Day 86: L&L Building, Billings, Montana
📌APIA Every Day (86) - The L&L Building, situated in Billings, Montana, was owned by Sam Lee, a Chinese immigrant who achieved success as a businessman in the area. The building was named L&L, Lee & Lee, after Sam and his brother Yee. Together, the brothers ran a Chinese dry goods store, restaurant, and lodging house within the premises. Over time, the ground floor housed saloons, liquor stores, and various other businesses. By the 1930s, the building lay vacant and later housed the notorious Arcade Bar until the early 1990s when it was shut down by the City of Billings.
Following the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1887, which resulted in the dismissal of numerous Chinese workers, and the railroads' preference for cheaper Japanese labor, Chinese immigrants in Billings turned to entrepreneurship. They established businesses such as restaurants and laundries, primarily concentrated along Minnesota Avenue, especially within Block 189, later known as China Alley. Life in China Alley was characterized by close-knit living quarters, with the Chinese community largely isolating themselves while preserving their customs, food, culture, and religion. Over time, as Billings expanded, so did the Chinese community within China Alley. By 1903, the community began to solidify, with the construction of twelve more buildings in the China Alley block, later hosting half of Billings' Chinese-owned businesses located there.
The L&L Building holds significance for its association with Chinese businesses within it and the broader history of the Chinese in Billings, as well as throughout Montana. It stands as one of only two surviving buildings on China Alley. The building remained vacant and deteriorated until it was purchased in 2003 and rehabilitated between 2004 and 2006 by High Plains Architects of Billings, who conducted a comprehensive certified historic tax credit rehabilitation to restore the original design elements and preserve the historic character of the building.
The building was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 19, 2008. As one of the last physical places of Billings' Chinese community residing in the area still standing, the L&L building embodies the historical and architectural histories of the city’s earliest years.
LEARN MORE:
NPS Gallery: National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for L&L Building
Historic Montana: L and L Building
HMDB: Billings' Chinatown - The Chinese Community and Workforce
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