TOMCHAK GROCERY AND TAVERN

We continue with our topic about "hunkytown," the early 20th century Russian and Eastern European immigrant business section of Austin Avenue referred to today as the "Austin Avenue Corridor." Tomchak’s was a well-known "west end" business for many years. Michael Tomchak (1892-1947) came to the U.S. in 1911 from his native Leskova (Kiev), Czarist Russia, and to Albion in 1913. As was the case with many immigrants, he began work at the Albion Malleable Iron Company. He established his home at 612 Austin Avenue and opened a grocery and butcher shop on the west side of his building. The east side contained his dry goods store where clothes and shoes were sold. Mike the converted that side into Mike’s Tavern. He subsequently added pool tables, discontinued the grocery, and the whole building then served as the Tavern. When you won a game of pool you would collect a metal token which could be redeemed at the place.

After Mike passed away in 1947, his widow Katherine (1911-2002) took it over and renamed it Tomchak’s Tavern. It was a popular "west end" business establishment. Katie operated the tavern through the 1960s and sponsored area bowling and softball teams. After she retired, she sold the business and it became the Paramount Lounge, and later, Adkins Lounge which operated into the early 2000s. Like most other "hunkytown" businesses along Austin Avenue, the building has since been closed for many years.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present an August 18, 1939 photo of Tomchak’s Grocery, with the abandoned Interurban tracks out front. Also illustrated is an aluminum token used for pool games from the 1940s. How many of our readers remember Tomchak’s Tavern?

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
AlbionDesign.com — Communications Specialists Since 1981 \| Advertise on AlbionMich.com