Dubuque Iowa
Dubuque Iowa |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Above is a panoramic view of Dubuque as seen from the south bridge over the Mississippi. The image is a link; click on it to load a much larger copy that you can scroll through. Just the FactsNOTE: The data that follows derives primarily from the 1990 U.S. census and as such is a decade out of date. Comparative data for the U.S. at large and for the St. Louis metro area are presented to establish perspective. St. Louis was chosen because it is the largest city on the river as well as smack dab in the middle.
Dubuque is named after Julien Dubuque, a French trapper, who came to the area to trap animals but, ended up mining lead. The bluffs along the river from Gelena Illinois to Dubuque contain an abundance of this resource. Julien Dubuque arrived in the area in 1785 when lands west of the Mississippi where still under Spanish control. He befriended the local tribe of Native Americans who granted him the right to operate the lead mines. Today agriculture and related industries are Dubuque's primary occupation. John Deere has a large manufacturing plant on the outskirts of town.
The Mississippi in Dubuque is beautiful. It's clear and blue as it twists and dodges through the bluffs. The river here is wide, wider actually than in its southern reaches. In Dubuque the river is a working river. Barges and towboats keep up a constant activity in this agricultural shipping port. We also saw plenty of private craft on the river, mostly fishermen trying their luck below the dam. Dubuque has a unique feature not present at other Mississippi river cities. They have a protected harbor. Ice harbor in Dubuque is behind a high wall with an opening large enough to accommodate a towboat. You can see the harbor entrance in the panorama at the top of this page--it's just to the right of the bridge. Inside the harbor are a Coast Guard station, commercial docks, and a casino. Dubuque is large enough to support some of the finer amenities that city life brings. They have an art museum and a botanical garden and arboretum of which the citizenry are rightly very proud. They even have a little bit of suburbia croping up in the fields on the edges of town. There are four institutions of higher learning in the area which typically bring cultural enrichment to a community. Their economy is healthy, the natural setting is gorgeous and clean, and the city is small enough to feel comfortable and yet large enough to provide for a variety of interests and tastes. Oh yes, and the bridge over the river is open to pedestrians. |
Dubuque Iowa is one of Isaac's favorite cities on the Mississippi. I find that easy to understand since Dubuque has lots of "stuff" to appeal to an 11 year old boy. (I'm entering my second childhood and I like Dubuque as well). First of all the south highway bridge across the river has a sidewalk. There are few things as much fun to do as walking out over a big bridge that spans a river like the Mississippi. Out in the middle you can spit off the bridge, throw pennies in the river and kick rocks and sand from the bridge deck into the river. The view is usually great and in the case of Dubuque the view is splendid. The railroad bridge that crosses the river is a swing bridge and there's a perfect view of it from the sidewalk on the highway bridge. Isaac and I had the thrill of watching the bridge swing open for a towboat to pass. One of our greatest disappointments in traveling the length of the Great River Road is the number of bridges that are closed to pedestrian traffic, but not in Dubuque.
Second, Dubuque has an incline cable car that takes passengers up to the top of the bluff. It's one of those things you ride just for the fun of it when you're 11 years old. Having been raised in Pittsburgh PA., the Dubuque incline was a real nostalgia trip for me as I used to ride similar trolleys as a child. At the top of the bluff there's an observation deck with an excellent view of the city below. We waited there at sunset and watched the city begin to light up--it was wonderfully romantic (too bad I was there with my 11 year old son). Third, Dubuque is built on a little strip of flood plane along the river and then right into and over the bluff. In addition to the incline that runs to the top of the bluff, Dubuque has roads that snake up the side of the bluff. These roads are so steep that you have to question the wisdom of having built them in the first place. Driving up and down them is quite an experience--almost frightening. I suspect that a visitor from say Nebraska would probably look up one of these roads from the bottom and think better of the attempt. They're a great way to burn out a clutch and a real treat if you're 11 years old.
One of Dubuque's most notable features is its excellent collection of well preserved Victorian architecture. In the late nineteenth century, the bluffs along the river were a prime location for the wealthy to build their ostentatious homes. It's a real treat to visit this historic section of the city. I'm always very amused to see how the social strata of the community is mirrored in the physical strata of homes layered one above another up the bluff. The poorer, smaller, less gaudy homes are at the bottom of the bluff and the Greek revival mansions are at the top. Isaac and I figure the value (in dollars, not aesthetic value) of the homes rises up the bluff at about a thousand dollars per foot. Iowa, of all places, is a hotbed of Victorian architecture. I imagine all those good German Lutherans must have sublimated their wilder passions into exterior and interior decorating. If you're interested in the topic, there's a good book you can pick up at the Dubuque library, Victorian architecture of Iowa, by William Plymat.
As Isaac and I have traveled the entire length of the Mississippi, we've kept a sharp eye out for the best views of the river valley from atop the bluffs. One of those views is here in Dubuque from the bluffs in Eagle Point Park on the north end of town. As a special treat these bluffs in the park overlook lock and dam number eleven. You can stand on the bluffs and watch the tows go through the lock. While we were doing precisely that during our most recent visit we encountered a gentleman also taking in the view. As our conversation turned toward the tow locking through below us, I mentioned that I had elsewhere along the river met people who felt very strongly that the dams should be taken out and the river returned to its natural state. The gentleman we were talking with had something a little less than polite to say about those holding such a view as he commented on the ignorance of their position. He seemed to know something about the locks and the commercial tow traffic, but not much about the plight of the river sturgeon. I wish the problem were as simple as the advocates I've met on either side have painted it, but it's not. The resources of the earth are ours to both use and care for; taking either position to the extreme is a mistake.
Well, lets get back to Dubuque. Dubuque has a wonderfully baroque entrance from the south bridge over the river. You can't see the city from the opposite bank. As you drive across the river the bridge arches high above the city laid out along the river to the north. The city's harbor and the county court house dominate the view and that court house is quite a sight. With it's twin gold domes and 6 large white statutes on the roof plus Blind Justice on the dome, it makes a stunning introduction. If Isaac and I are at all typical, then a first visit to Dubuque begins with, "Woah! Look at that! What is that? Hey! Look! Look! Those are statues on the roof! Wow! we've got to check out that building."
In a worisome marriage between the lofty goal of education and the baser vice of gambling, a newer building at the harbor docks houses both a museum and the entrance to the casino. Other museum displays are spread about the harbor including an old Corps of Engineers river dredge that you can walk through.