As thousands of RAGBRAI cyclists pedaled past one of Iowa’s most-storied corners, many were likely unaware that their quick stop for pie or a photo was a brush with American road‑trip history.
At the edge of Colo, where the Lincoln and Jefferson highways meet, the Reed‑Niland Corner has welcomed travelers for more than a century.
Cyclists on the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa streamed by throughout the afternoon on Wednesday, July 22.
Some slowed to take photos of the 100‑year‑old gas station museum; others ducked inside Niland’s Cafe for a tenderloin or a BLT. The cafe’s neon sign, the vintage fuel pumps and the tidy cabins created a cinematic scene in the middle of a long day’s ride.
Cyclists like Dave and Dianne Brotherson of Ames enjoyed slices of cherry and lemon cream pie in a booth while visiting with Zaylani and Jaxon-Brody Lazard, 8 and 13, respectively, both of Texas, and Kevin Lazard of Urbandale.
Tyler Penniman of St. Paul, Minnesota, Catherine McConnell of Ankeny, and John and Lindsay Hill of St. Augustine, Florida, sat at the counter enjoying BLTs, chocolate shakes and pie.
On Main Street in Colo, Niland’s offered a variety of menu items — including scratch-made pie — at a vendor tent it dubbed Niland Island, drawing a steady stream of hungry customers.
A community effort keeps the historic corner alive
The diner began with a combination of hospitality and business sense in 1923, when Colo farmer Charlie Reed found motorists knocking on his door, asking for gas. Reed set up a pump, then added sandwiches, camping space and tourist cabins.
Before long, he had created one of Iowa’s earliest one‑stop travel hubs — a place to fuel up, eat, rest and continue the journey at the crossroads of the two early transcontinental highways.
“When you go there, you just feel it,” Jeanie Hau of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway said in a recent interview. “It’s extraordinary that it’s still there.”
The Reed‑Niland Corner nearly slipped away in recent years. The city of Colo had owned the property for decades, restoring the buildings in the early 2000s. But by 2025, the cost of maintaining the aging structures became too much.
When word spread that the site might be sold, residents packed public meetings, determined not to lose a landmark that had shaped their town.
Their efforts led to the creation of Reed‑Niland Corner, Inc., a nonprofit formed by historians, highway enthusiasts and Colo residents. The group took ownership April 1, ensuring the cafe, motel, museum and apartments will remain intact for generations.
Niland’s Cafe keeps the tradition going
Inside Niland’s Cafe, the past and present meet over hot beef sandwiches and slices of homemade pie. With a black-and-white checkered floor and an iconic counter with stools, it continues to have the quintessential diner feel. Booths and tables round out the seating, and historic documents and maps add to the vintage feel.
Manager Kelsey Reed — no relation to Charlie Reed — has expanded hours, added hand‑cut ribeyes and kept the focus on traditional, homemade comfort food.
For cyclists who sped past without stopping, the Reed‑Niland Corner may have looked like a charming roadside cluster of buildings. But for those who paused, it offered a glimpse of how early motorists traveled and how one family’s hospitality helped shape a community.
Reporter Ronna Faaborg can be reached at rfaaborg@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: RAGBRAI encounters road-tripping history at century-old Niland’s Cafe
Reporting by Ronna Faaborg, Ames Tribune / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ronna Faaborg, Ames Tribune | USA TODAY Network
