Merchant and German immigrant Heinrich Rutter constructed the building in 1849 as a general store.

The building became a commercial and social center for St. Libory, as it house a variety of other businesses in addition to the village's main store.

Rutter operated a hotel and a bar in the building from the late 1850s until World War I, and a doctor's office occupied the second floor during the 1870s.

[2] The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 6, 1994.

This article about a property in St. Clair County, Illinois on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub.