History of Red Lodge

In the late 19th century, many new settlers came to Red Lodge. The majority came from Italy, Scotland, Wales, England, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. By the mid-1880s, migrants were still outnumbered by large numbers of Native Americans. By 1892 the population reached 1,180.

In 1896, Red Lodge had twenty saloons and, as the library records show, riotous and violent living was characteristic of the town. By 1906 the population had grown to 4,000 and by 1911 this had increased to 5,000.

Red Lodge suffered in the Great Depression, which forced many mines to close. To offset this downturn, the manufacture of illegal bootleg liquor, labeled syrup, became an economic mainstay and was sold as far away as Chicago and San Francisco.

In 1931 work began on the Beartooth Highway linking Red Lodge to Yellowstone National Park; it was officially opened in 1936.

The downtown has been redeveloped since the mid-1980s for historic and cultural tourism, as the Red Lodge Commercial Historic District. The buildings in downtown Red Lodge had fallen into disrepair, in large part because population had dropped from its 1915 peak of 6000 people to about 2,000.

As of 2006, an estimate suggests that the population of Red Lodge may increase from about 1,200 people in the winter to over 1,800 people during the summer tourist season, arriving via the Beartooth Highway