Yegen Grocery Warehouse, 8 South Broadway

The name YEGEN BROS. appears in raised, stepped sign panels at the top of this building. The Yegens were prominent among the businessmen who helped build Billings. Immigrants from Sweden, they arrived in Billings in its first year, 1882, and started business with a bakery. By 1900, when they opened the town's first savings bank, their retail stores, wholesale markets and warehouses sprawled across three blocks in the Minnesota Avenue corridor. The first warehouse on this site was built between 1886-1889. The current brick warehouse was built around 1920, after the site was sold to Ryan Grocery Co. in 1915.

Historic Name:
Yegen Office
Current Name:
KB Commercial Products

Builder:
Unknown

Original Use:
Warehouse
Current Use:
Store, offices

Physical Description:
The Yegen Grocery Warehouse is a massive brick building, two stories high. The building is square in massing, and the finished façades face east onto South Broadway, and south onto Minnesota. It is spare, sturdy and symmetrical in design, simply ornamented with raised brickwork.

On the east (primary) elevation, the emphasis is placed upon two storefront displays, centered under a brick panel outlined by a string course of raised brick. Raised brick diamonds and a denticulated coursing trim the panel. The storefront features two large window openings, each with a triple group of glass panels, with transom glazing above and a short metal apron skirting below. To either side, entrances are located near the corners. These each are surrounded with raised brick and have corniced heads with raised brick keystone detailing and drop moldings. Glass doors are framed with metal and accentuated by large square transoms. Above the doorways, the diamond motif repeats. Square windows, set singly and in pairs, illuminate the second floor. They are spanned by raised, flat brick headers, have brick sills, and house the original 4-pane window units. Above this, the parapet is enriched by a corbeled brick cornice, and capped with brick coping and raised, stepped sign panels that read YEGEN BROS.

The south elevation shares this fenestration scheme on the first and second floors, although the glazing has been replaced. The cornice treatment wraps and fully spans this façade. A concrete dock projects along the south side, accessed by two loading bays. On the north elevation, windows are similar, but are spanned by segmental brick arches, as are two loading bays. On the west (rear) there are no openings in the brick wall.

Historical Associations:
The first building to occupy this site was a large warehouse constructed by Christian and Peter Yegen, between 1886-1889. Prominent among the businessmen who helped to build Billing's downtown, the Yegens controlled the center of business south of the NP track on Minnesota Avenue for decades. Born in Sweden, Christian first immigrated to Bismark, North Dakota, where brother John and sister Dorothea taught him the baking trade. Christian purchased a small farm and was joined by Peter in 1881. They moved on to Glendive and then Terry, Montana where they ran restaurants. In 1882, they pooled their profits and bought a small bakery in Billings. The business failed after rail workers moved on, but they began again, and within a year bought a building and expanded the business to include groceries.

They moved awhile later to the heart of Minnesota Avenue, the 2800 block where they gradually built a business empire, adding hardware, dry goods, cold storage as the company steadily grew. By 1900, when they opened the town's first savings bank, their retail stores, wholesale markets and warehouses sprawled across three blocks in the Minnesota Avenue corridor. With retail established on the south side of the 2800 block, they built wholesale and warehouse storage on the railroad reserve blocks across the street. They also platted and sold lots in two additions to the townsite. In the early 1900s, they also started up banks in Anaconda and Gardiner. Their commercial success made them leaders in the community, Christian served in Montana State Legislature and Peter was active on the Library board for many years.

The first warehouse on this property was expanded with a large addition to the west between 1889-91. In March 1915, George W Ryan purchased the Yegens' wholesale grocery department and founded Ryan Grocery Co. This brick edifice and a larger brick warehouse replaced the earlier grocery warehouse sometime between that time and 1923.

Historical and Architectural Significance:
The Yegen Grocery Warehouse at 2 S Broadway is a significant building, both for its historical associations and its architectural significance. Historically, it is the best preserved of the Yegen Brothers buildings which once dominated Minnesota Avenue and the Southside business area. A business dynamo for decades in southeast Montana, the Yegen Brothers company dominated the Billings' southside and the Minnesota Avenue Business corridor that grew up around the railroad tracks in the commercial heart of town. Associations with the Yegens, among the most prominent pioneer businessmen to settle in the city are highly important.

The Yegen Brothers Office level of integrity enables it to illustrate design and construction ideas of the period. These associations and the building's high level of integrity in this historic area make it an important early 20th century component of downtown Billings.

Photograph Courtesy of Paul Whiting