Niland’s Café Marker – Colo, IA - Iowa Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

A visit to this corner of the Lincoln Highway will take a motorist make into the 1940’s. A marker tells the story:

“Food service at Reed/Niland Corner began in the mid-1920’s with a lunch stand selling sandwiches and cold drinks to motorists during the summer months. Built next to a small gas station located about 100 yards east of this point, the lunch stand was soon replaced by a small café on the south side of the highway. In 1930 the café was moved back to the north side, where it underwent one more move before it reached its present location. Several later additions brought the café to its present size. By the late 1930’s, its name had been changed from the L & J [Lincoln & Jefferson] Café to Niland’s Café.

“Niland’s Café was a classic roadside eatery bedecked with “EAT” signs and open for long hours every day. Known for offering “home cooked” meals at reasonable prices, it was also well patronized by residents of Colo and vicinity until it closed in 1991. The front part of the café has been restored to its appearance in the 1940’s and early 1950’s, before the north wing was added in 1955 and the café reached its maximum capacity of 65 seats.

“The concrete marker bearing the Lincoln medallion is one of about 3,000 installed by the Boy Scouts along the route of the Lincoln Highway in 1928 and was not originally at this location.”

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/08/2011 biscuitt bunch visited it