Red Lodge

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Categories:

Things to See,  Historical Markers/Interpretive Sign,  Historic Sites

Keywords:

• Red Lodge, 
• Montana Historical Markers

General info

Location: Hwy. 212 in Red Lodge

Coal was discovered in the Rock Creek Valley nearly two decades before Red Lodge was established as a mail stop on the Meteetsee Trail in 1884. In 1887, the Rocky Fork Coal Company opened the first large-scale mine at Red Lodge sparking the communitys first building boom, consisting mostly of hastily constructed shacks and log huts. The completion of the Northern Pacific Railway branch line to Red Lodge in 1890 resulted in the construction of many brick and sandstone buildings that now line the citys main street.

Like all mining camps, Red Lodge had a large population of single men and an abundance of saloons. For many years, the notorious Liver-eatingJohnson kept the peace as the towns first constable. Red Lodge also boasted several churches and social clubs for those not inclined toward the citys more earthier entertainment.

Hundreds of people came to Red Lodge in the 1890s and early 1900s. Immigrants from all over Europe worked shoulder-to-shoulder in the coal mines, but settled in neighborhoods called Finn Town, Little Italy and Hi Bug. Their cultural traditions endured and are celebrated at the citys annual Festival of Nations.

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