News Farmer Mercantile Hall: Historic store is now an event center for Garrison

A decade ago this summer, Nick and Charlotta Fisher stood on Main Street in Garrison, among hundreds who had gathered for the very last time at the Farmers Mercantile in Garrison.

They left that auction as owner of the building which Emma Crossley and her family had run as Garrison’s store for nearly  a century.

Asked that day what he planned to do with the building, the couple said, “We will let the building tell us.”

Ten years later, the Fishers continue to run the former store as an event center. Another event took place there on Saturday, at the end of Garrison’s Fun Day.

Several people gathered to hear the trio known as Castle Ridge play a variety of music. Volunteers wearing red “Garrison Rockets” t-shirts offered refreshments and accepted donations for the Garrison library.

The Fishers spent countless hours cleaning and repairing the building after that 2005 auction, where every item in the store – some which had been there for decades –was sold. Now called Farmer Mercantile Hall, the building still has its metal ceiling and the railed mezzanine overlooking the floor below.

On Sept. 12, the group of musicians who have gathered annually to play guitars and other instruments with Todd Frank and others will return to the Hall for a fund-raiser that will be called “Maidrites  and Music.” Last year, the event raised $1,200 for the new library, which replaced the downtown brick structure which was destroyed by the July 11, 2011 wind storm.

Nick and Charlotta continue to renovate the building, which has a 55 by 38-foot main room, a kitchen with stove, roasters, refrigerators, microwave and coffee makers.

For more information or to book an event, call contact Nick Fischer at .

More on the building’s history

From a story we wrote 7 years ago:

The streets of Garrison were as crowded as ever that summer Saturday in 2005.

Hundreds of people filled the old Farmers Mercantile building, looking at the historical displays and the shelves full of items - many of which had been there for decades.

Owner Emma Crossley, who grew up in the store and inherited from her family, had to sell the business because of her failing health.

Virtually everything, including the building, was put on the auction block that day.

And when it was time to sell the building, hundreds of people watched as Duane Johnson pointed at Nick and Charlotta Fischer and said "sold."

After the rural Mt. Auburn couple paid $13,500 for the historic building, Charlotta explained what the couple had in mind for its future.

"We will have to let the building tell us what to do," she said.

The couple eventually decided to try to turn the old building into a community center, a place for meetings, dances and other activities.

Last Saturday, in contrast to the day he bought the building, the street in front of the store was virtually empty as Nick worked alone inside the building.

Nick said on Saturday, while working on some long tables that used to hold merchandise, that he has stopped predicting when the building will be completed.

He spends many of his weekend hours there.

Since they purchased the building, a part of the roof collapsed in the back of the building. Nick is also building two new bathrooms and is beginning work on the kitchen area.

"This is quite a piece of history," auctioneer Duane Johnson had told the crowd before the bidding began on the building three summers ago.

Johnson told the crowd then that while he normally has a general idea of what real estate he sells at his auctions is worth, this time he had "no idea." Johnson also cautioned the crowd that the building was sold "as is," and that while all of the valuable items would be sold, there would be a lot of junk left in the building when the sale was over.

Bidding began at $1,000 and seemed to be about over between $9,000 and $9,500, but eventually the bidding stopped after the Fishers said yes to $13,500.

The historic interior architecture is what the Fishers loved about the building.

"I love the mezzanine -- the balcony," said Charlotta, a nurse at St. Luke¹s Hospital in Cedar Rapids. She also said she loved the wooden windows.

Nick, who runs Vinton Counseling Services, "likes to restore old buildings in a way so they don't lose their historical value," said Charlotta.

"We are really interested in getting in there and cleaning it up and seeing where it goes from there," she said. "We will leave as much as we can the way it is."

The couple¹s interest in the building began as soon as they learned it was for sale, Charlotta said.

The Farmers Mercantile closed in 2004. It had served customers since 1911.

Emma Crossley inherited the business from her father, James Crossley.

James Crossley began working at the store when he was still in school, and became its owner in 1948. Emma worked there all her life and took over the store.

The building was built in 1911, shortly after the blaze that local historian have labeled the "Garrison Fire."

The Farmers Mercantile began as a coop and became a private enterprise in 1914.

In addition to a store, the site was also a gathering place where musicians would perform on Saturday nights and people would come to socialize.

If the Fishers¹ dreams come true, the building will be such a place once more.