The Pagoda (Little Red Lunch Box) – by Frank Passic

Morning Star, February 17, 2002, pg. 11

There’s a business in town that is 75 years old this year and doesn’t know it yet. Let them know and take them a copy of this article. Our newer residents might not recognize this name, but for someone who has lived in Albion awhile, they know where I am talking about: the Pagoda.

During the late 1920s and early 1930s, the “Pagoda” oriental architectural style was a popular fad for small businesses, and Albion had several, including a few gas stations. Eventually these businesses outgrew their quaint original size and either added on or demolished the original and built again using another architectural design.

One such business that has remained in Albion and which kept the name for most of its 75 year history is the Pagoda Restaurant at 113 E. Michigan Avenue. This place was opened 1927 on the site of the former L. W. Pryor Used Furniture and junk business. The Pagoda was started by Arthur V. Ford (1891-1952), personnel director at the Gale Manufacturing Company during the 1940s, and a past president of the Leisure Hour Club. Politically, Mr. Ford was a secretary of the Bull Moose Party in Colorado from 1912 to 1914, and a Republican precinct chairman in Albion in 1940. He also served as Albion’s Civilian Defense chief during World War II.

The Pagoda was located on the busy U.S. 12 highway in Albion, which saw a tremendous amount of traffic through the years before I-94 opened in 1960. It developed a reputation in the midwest as a popular eating stop between Detroit and Chicago, “especially during times of heavy travel by World War I veterans to and from state and national conclaves,” stated Ford’s obituary. During such times Ford placed a sign on top of the Pagoda welcoming veterans of the U.S. Air Corps 87th Aero Squadron of which he served as a pilot and training instructor in 1917 and 1918.

The Pagoda was sold to D. Richard McAuliffe in 1941, and was subsequently remodeled to look much like it appears today. It has gone through a series of ownerships through the years, some retaining the Pagoda name, while others have called it something else, like “Jumbo Burger” (1960s). During the 1960s, the Albion Jaycees would print a “spoof” newspaper at Christmastime as a fundraiser. One year the headline read, “Pagoda and Schulers to Merge.” I don’t think so.