Labor Temple

Red Lodge Miner’s Local No. 1771 had grown to more than a thousand members when this labor temple was built in 1909. The United Mine Workers of America organized nationally in 1896 and by 1898, Local No. 1771 had 200 members. The building is a testament to the labor struggles of Red Lodge coal miners and the primary symbol of labor history in the area.

John Horne of Laurel designed the $36,000 building and Butte Local #22 contributed major funding. John Massow, building committee chairman, took the train to Butte and returned with a $10,000 loan in his pocket. Carved sandstone with the words “Labor Temple” at the center of the parapet proclaims the building’s purpose.

The temple included a union meeting hall, union offices, a library, and a saloon for members called the Workers’ Club of Carbon County. Old-timers say club patrons were mostly Welsh, Scottish, and Irish; miners of other ethnic groups frequented local establishments run by their compatriots. The Finnish Kaleva Cooperative Mercantile, a reflection of the town’s colorful ethnic diversity, was the original ground floor tenant.