Dubuque
[key], city (2020 pop. 59,667), seat of Dubuque co., NE Iowa, on the
Mississippi River; chartered 1841. It is a trade, industrial, cultural, and
rail center and a river port for an agricultural and dairying area. It makes
foods, beer, metal products, chemicals, and machinery; high-technology
industries are growing. The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium
anchors a redeveloped waterfront. One of the oldest cities in the state, it
was named for Julien Dubuque, who had settled nearby c.1788. Native title to
the territory ended with the Black Hawk Treaty of 1832, and white settlers
began to pour in. Iowa's first newspaper, the Du Buque
Visitor, was established in 1836. Dubuque developed
first as a mining town, then as a lumbering and milling center. It is the
seat of the Univ. of Dubuque, Clarke College, and Loras College. St.
Raphael's Cathedral (1857) and the Ham House Museum are in the city; nearby
are Crystal Lake Cave, the U.S. locks and dam on the Mississippi, and the
New Mellera (Trappist) Abbey.
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