Youngville Cafe

Youngville Cafe is a Tudor Revival building in Iowa built in 1931 that served as both a restaurant and gas station. It features steep rooflines, small windows, and decorative woodwork typical of the style from that era.

Joe Young built the Tudor Revival building in 1931 on his pasture land along U.S. Route 30, then the Lincoln Highway, so his widowed daughter Lizzie Wheeler could support herself and her children. The family lived in the residential space behind the café and Skelly gas station, which also served as a Greyhound and Jefferson bus depot. Wheeler rented the business out, returned in 1967, and it closed that year for lack of parking. The Benton County Sesquicentennial Commission acquired it in 1996, and it joined the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

The cafe takes its name from founder Joseph Young and reflects its role as a gathering spot along a major highway. Over decades, it became a meeting place where travelers and local residents shared meals and stories, shaping the rhythm of community life.

The cafe operates only from May through October and serves homemade soups, sandwiches, and pies made from scratch. It sits on the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, making it easy for travelers to locate and visit along a historic route.

The building originally served as both a restaurant and gas station, a typical feature of stops along the Lincoln Highway during the early automobile era. This dual function reflects how such combined facilities were common when long-distance travel was beginning to reshape small-town commerce.