Pearl's Place

With the start of a new quarter comes the start of a new project! I am excited to say I am FINALLY 

getting the chance to do an entire photo essay series on the infamous Pearl's Place in Bernard, Iowa. 

Pearl's Place has always been an iconic stop in the small farm town of Bernard, and has always held 

a special place in my heart.

In 1946, the cafe was first built by the Schmitt family and was known as Schmitt's Cafe. In 1946, my 

Great Aunt Rose bought the cafe and changed the name to Deckers. The original structure had an 

apartment above the restaurant, which is where multiple people from my family have lived at one 

time or another. Over the years, the steps to the apartment began to wear and were taken out due to 

safety reasons.

When Rose began to get sick, her daughter Carol (A.K.A. Pearl) began to run the cafe which she still

owns and operates today. The Cafe looks like a diner straight out of the 1950s, still having most of it's original furnishings. The building has become so old that the ground and foundation have started to shift, causing the floor to crack and begin to slant-- making the booths sit at an incline. But, without this unique feature, the cafe wouldn't be the same.  

 Schmitts Cafe

 Pearl's Place, 2014