About Middlebrook Mercantile
Welcome to Middlebrook Mercantile, a one-of-a-kind bar, event space, retail center, and home to community programming for anyone that wants to join!
The Mercantile features a wine bar and general store, located in the heart of Middlebook, Iowa’s first Agrihood community. We offer craft cocktails and beer, specialty wines, coffee, espressos, lattes, and more, grab-and-go eats, as well as curated fine goods for your shopping pleasure. Everyone is welcome to stop in for a drink or to browse the unique offerings found in our store.
Stop by, grab a seat, or make a reservation today.
Middlebrook is proud to have the original Cumming one-room schoolhouse as a part of its community. Originally, the town itself was platted as an eight-block irregular polygon next to the railroad tracks. Shortly after that, in the late 1880s, the schoolhouse was built within this plat. This secured Cumming in its status as a small rural town, joining many newly created towns across the state. The schoolhouse played an important role in the community, educating students from kindergarten through high school until the school was consolidated into the Norwalk School system in 1969. After the school closed, this building was renovated as a restaurant, operating under a handful of names over the years.
Today, we have restored the historic schoolhouse. Its original character has been preserved and the inside now hosts our wine bar and general store. Thirsty patrons from the Agrihood, friends from afar, and cyclists from the Great Western Trail can quench their thirst in style at our watering hole. The building now serves as a centerpiece for our northside commercial area, just as it once served as a centerpiece for the rural town of Cumming.