Iarussi Building

Red Lodge Commercial Historic District

By The Montana National Register Sign Program

Iarussi Building Still image capture of the Iarussi Building, Red Lodge, Montana. Image information drawn from related images in the Red Lodge Commercial Historic District files at the State Historic Preservation Office. Information is not recorded on print verso. b&w print. Source: Official records of the Montana State Historic Preservation Office, Helena, Montana Creator: Unidentified photographer Date: 1985

In the 1920s Italian shoemaker Ludovico Iarussi (later changed to Jarussi) owned this property containing his shop and several frame commercial buildings. In 1929, Iarussi razed the older shops and constructed the present building. Financially disabled in the stock market crash later that year, Iarussi was unable to afford occupancy himself. He leased part of the commercial space and sold the remainder. The Yugoslavian families of Yelich and then Thiel ran a saloon in the north portion until 1985, while various businesses occupied the additional space. Polychromatic brickwork, a recessed double entry, original transom glass, and intact commercial glazing form a superior example of 1920s vintage architecture.