A small museum in San Juan is celebrating its first year.

Museo 956 is just down the street from the historic San Juan Hotel, the building that inspired its creation.

"Some might say because of that painful history you should demolish it. However, we know that erasing history does not erase the pain, it only intensifies it," Museo 956 co-founder Stephanie Alvarez said.

That belief is the driving reason why Alvarez decided to help open Museo 956 a year ago.

"We are run completely by volunteers and no paid staff and we pay the rent based on donations," Alvarez said.

Museo 956 is a non-profit Mexican American civil rights museum that sits just a few doors down from the San Juan Hotel.

Inside, visitors will learn about the hotel's history.

"The hotel was the site of the lynching of many Mexican Americans, and we decided the hotel needed to be preserved, not to glorify that history but to serve as a site to remember," Alvarez said.

The exhibits are the result of more than a decade of research Alvarez and her students put together. One section focuses on La Matanza and its ties to the hotel.

"Between 1910 and 1920, when Texas Rangers indiscriminately killed and lynched Mexican American men here in the Valley," Alvarez said.

The museum also highlights people from South Texas and the Valley who stood up against injustice.

"Stood up all throughout history against injustice and Jovita Idar and J.T. Canales are just two of them," Alvarez said.

Alvarez says remembering that history helps shape the future.

"It also allows us to make better choices for ourselves and for our families and our communities so we don't repeat the past," Alvarez said.

Something Sareth Garcia, who volunteers at the museum, believes is important.

"We need to learn about the history and love this place," Garcia said.

Garcia says after living in the Valley for over 30 years, there's still new things to learn and hopes others will take the time to learn about it too.

"Come listen to the story of all the people who fought for us so we could enjoy what we are doing now," Garcia said.

Channel 5 News also reached out to San Juan city leaders to get an update on the future of the San Juan Hotel.

In a phone call, the San Juan city manager said the city voted back in 2024 to demolish the hotel, but it has been stalled, adding that city leaders are still considering demolition or rehabilitation of the hotel.

There is no timeline on when a decision will be made.

Watch the video above for the full story.