Bohemia Historical Society
The Fialas of the South Shore
A century of cigars, hotels, hardware, and paint — from Bohemia to Sayville to Patchogue
From cigars and hotels to hardware and paint, few families have shaped the South Shore quite like the Fialas. For more than a century, their name has hung above shop doors in Bohemia, Sayville, and Patchogue — and the story behind it begins, like so many in this hamlet, with a young man crossing an ocean.
1863–1905
From the Old Country to the Cigar Trade
Frank Fiala Sr. was born in 1863 in Bohemia, Czech Republic, the son of Jan and Julia Fiala. He emigrated to America in the late 1870s, joining the wave of Czech immigrants who would come to define the character of a Long Island hamlet that shared their homeland’s name. In 1883, he married Barbara Adamec, a fellow Bohemian immigrant, and together they built a life rooted in hard work, Catholic faith, and the Czech language carried over from home.
Frank found his footing first in the cigar-making industry — the trade that put Bohemia, NY on the map and gave the surrounding era its nickname, “The Golden Age of Cigars” — before transitioning into the hotel business in Manhattan.
1905
The Hotel on Smithtown Avenue
In 1905, Frank Sr. purchased the Nohowec Hotel on Smithtown Avenue in Bohemia, NY, bringing the family permanently to the area. Under his ownership it became known simply as Fiala’s Hotel, and for the next twelve years it served as one of the hamlet’s social anchors — hosting Czech-speaking travelers, locals, and the celebrations and sorrows of the community alike.
The family knew tragedy here. In January 1912, Frank and Barbara’s eldest daughter, Rose “Rosie” Fiala, died at the hotel at just twenty-three years old. She had suffered for four years following an appendicitis operation and ultimately succumbed to Bright’s disease, a kidney illness. Her funeral at the Catholic Church in Bohemia drew several hundred mourners; some thirty young men and women, the latter dressed in white, escorted her hearse to the cemetery while a Bohemian band led by William Stochl played her out. In a published note of thanks, Frank singled out Father Connolly of Brentwood and Father Heffernan of Sayville for their kindness, and expressed warm gratitude to friends from both Bohemia and Sayville who had stood with the family.
After stepping away from the hotel, Frank Sr. went into business with his son Frank Jr., opening a bakery together in the area.
1913–1965
The Sayville Connection
Frank’s son Joseph (1884–1965) moved to Bohemia in 1913 and launched a painting and decorating business from his home. It was the beginning of nearly five decades of work that would make the Fiala name a fixture on the South Shore.
In 1926, Joseph opened a hardware store at 199 Railroad Avenue in Sayville, later adding a second location in Patchogue managed by his brother Frank. By 1930, he relocated the Sayville store to 20 Railroad Avenue, taking over the former Terry & Sons building — the kind of place where neighbors picked up a can of paint, a pound of nails, and a piece of local news on the same trip.
Joseph was a pillar of the community in the truest sense, lending his time and energy to the Bohemia Fire Department, the Lions Club, and the CSA Lodge — the local chapter of the Czech-Slavic Benevolent Society that knit Bohemia’s immigrant families together. When he passed away at the age of 81, he left behind a business that had become part of the fabric of Sayville life.
The store passed down through the generations: Joseph’s daughter Rose Tmay took over after his death, her son Bill later purchased it, and Bill’s son Steve continued the family legacy working in the paint store. Bill’s wife Elsie expanded the family’s footprint on the block by opening a wallpaper store right next door on Main Street and Railroad Avenue — for years, three generations of Fialas and Tmays could be found within a few steps of each other.
1920s–1950s
The Patchogue Branch: Frank Fiala Jr.
Frank Jr. (1902) married Mary Satava in 1924, and the couple settled in Patchogue, where they had two sons, Frank and George. By the 1920s, the family was operating a hardware store at 197 East Main Street. Frank and George eventually took over the business, relocating it to South Ocean Avenue in the 1950s under the name Fiala’s Country Paint — carrying the family trade into a new generation and a new address.
Also connected to the Patchogue business community was Lorice Staudinger, who managed the Colony Shop, a boutique her mother had founded in Patchogue.
The Legacy
A Legacy on the South Shore
From a cigar maker’s bench to a hotel keeper’s ledger; from a painter’s brush to a hardware store counter; from Bohemia in the Czech Republic to Bohemia, NY — the journey of Frank Fiala Sr. and his descendants spans more than a century and three South Shore communities. The seeds he planted when he stepped off a ship in the 1870s grew into businesses, civic commitments, and family bonds that endure to this day.
Do you have memories of Fiala’s Hardware, Fiala’s Hotel, the Tmay wallpaper store, or Fiala’s Country Paint in Patchogue? The Bohemia Historical Society would love to hear them.
Research provided by Thomas McMahon.
A Century of Fialas at a Glance
1863
Frank Fiala Sr. Is Born
Born in Bohemia, in what is now the Czech Republic, to Jan and Julia Fiala.
late 1870s
Crossing the Ocean
Frank emigrates to America and finds his footing in the cigar trade during Bohemia’s “Golden Age of Cigars.”
1905
Fiala’s Hotel Opens
Frank Sr. buys the Nohowec Hotel on Smithtown Avenue, anchoring the family in Bohemia for good.
1913
Joseph’s Brush and Bucket
Son Joseph moves to Bohemia and launches the painting and decorating business that starts the family trade.
1926
Hardware Comes to Sayville
Joseph opens the Railroad Avenue hardware store that would stay in the family across four generations.
1950s
Fiala’s Country Paint
Frank Jr.’s sons move the Patchogue store to South Ocean Avenue, carrying the trade into a new generation.