Arcade Building, 2624 Minnesota Avenue

This is the last building remaining in this block which formerly held a solid lineup of 1-3 story businesses at the heart of Billings' Chinese district. This building, constructed between 1893-1896, was purchased in 1896 by Yee Sam Lee, owner and proprietor of a Chinese restaurant and liquor store here. Yee appears to have been a leader in the Chinese community, one of the few whose name is mentioned in various newspaper and business articles. This building retains a high level of integrity, despite its deteriorated condition. The cast iron storefront is by Gillette and Herzog, a well-known Midwestern foundry.

Historic Name:
L & L Building
Current Name:
Arcade Building

Builder:

Original Use:
Restaurant; Lodgings
Current Use:
Vacant

Physical Description:
This brick building was constructed according to Sanborn Maps, between 1893-1896. It is a two-story brick commercial block, with a cast iron storefront and cornice manufactured by Gillette Herzog Manufacturing of Minneapolis. A typical late-19th century building, its rectangular mass fully occupies one city lot, with the primary façade fronting north onto Minnesota Ave, and extending deep into the lot along 27th Avenue. The first floor interior housed a commercial space; the second floor was divided into rooms for lodgers.

The building, now vacant and deteriorated, has an old coat of brick red paint which is flaking away. The building is crowned with a bracketed and ornamented cornice on the north and west elevations. South and east sides were not viewed from the street, and were therefore not finished. A heavy sandstone base sill caps a coursed stone foundation.

The primary elevation faces north, and the storefront was formed of cast iron, with a secondary cornice between the first and second levels. The storefront was later altered, filled with glass block and mismatched red brick on the lower portion, and glass block in the transom. An added shed awning projects above doorway height. However, the original cast iron fluted pilasters and cornice remain on view. A secondary entrance near southwest corner also is enframed with cast iron to match. The maker's nameplate is visible on the lower pilasters surrounding this entrance.

Fenestration is composed of tall, double-hung 1-over-1 windows, set singly and in pairs. The openings include segmental-arched heads with brick keystones, and rough-cut sandstone sills. These are regularly placed on the west elevation (first story) and on the north, east and west (second story). It appears that original window units remain throughout, however, glass is broken, and several are covered with corrugated fiberglass.

Historical Associations:
This property is located along the historic Minnesota Ave commercial corridor. Occupying the corner position, it is the last building remaining in this block which formerly held a solid lineup of 1-3 story business buildings which were the heart of Billings' Chinese district. The first known building to occupy lot 18, was a single story wood frame building that housed a grocery store. By 1891 that building was gone, and between 1893-1896, this building was constructed.

Deed records reveal that the property was owned by O. & C. Krieger of Livingston and in 1896, sold to Yee Sam Lee. Yee Sam Lee, one of the few known names in the early Chinese business community in Billings, purchased the property for $2,000. The building was named L & L for Lee & Lee -- Yee and Sam. They ran a Chinese restaurant on the first floor. In 1900, they advertised "L&L Wines, Liquors and Cigars" … with "Nicely Furnished Rooms" on the second floor. After that time, the Yee Sam Lee Brother Company advertised the L.L Building Rooming House, "first class lodging house good as a bank." On the first floor, there was a succession of saloons with various proprietors. (These included Swim & Buns' Billings Saloon, and McNaught & Smith).

Ownership passed to Louis She Yung, then Yee Gar Yung in later years, before reverting to Yellowstone County for owed taxes. During the 1920s, Antonio Jacobucci & Gabriel Servidio had a soft drink business in the building. By the 1930s, however, the building was vacant. In recent decades the building housed the Arcade Bar, until it shut its doors several years ago. Since that time, it has been vacant and allowed to deteriorate.

Historical and Architectural Significance:
The commercial building at 2624 Minnesota is a highly significant one, both for its historical associations and its architectural significance. Historically, it is an integral part of the Minnesota business corridor, reflecting the second generation building forms and types that were built in the period following the settlement of town. More substantial buildings of brick or stone, such as this, replaced the early frame buildings that were erected in the first years after the townsite opened to development. Fire damage, and the desire by business property owners to improve their holdings were among the most common the reasons the early buildings were replaced.

The small businesses that operated here - restaurants, billiard room, saloon - were typical in the turn-of-the-century commercial area south of the railroad tracks. Located on the northwest fringe of Billing's Chinese quarter, this building is significant for its associations with Yee Sam Lee Co, owners and proprietors of Chinese businesses here. Sam Lee appears to have been a leader in the Chinese community, one of the few whose name is mentioned in various newspaper and business articles. Restaurants in particular were among the small businesses that Chinese immigrants commonly operated in the neighborhood.

Architecturally, the building is a strong example of end of the century design, and the cast iron storefront by Gillette and Herzog is a real beauty. At one time, there were many buildings in downtown Billings that featured cast iron framing and decoration on the facades, this is one of the few that remain. Herzog and Gillette was a well-known Midwestern foundry that shipped their goods all over the country by rail. Once common throughout the town, this and the cast iron front at 2704 Minnesota are among the last well preserved examples of this popular late 19th century building element.

Photo Courtesy of Paul Whiting