As Iowa's first city, Dubuque has hundreds of historic homes and buildings. However, few have played as integral of a part in Dubuque residents' lives as the Dubuque City Hall, the old Dubuque County Jail and the Dubuque County Courthouse.

In 1833, when settlers were allowed to cross the Mississippi into Iowa, Mathias Ham became one of Dubuque's first residents. At his wife's request, who quickly grew tired of log cabin living, he spent the next 20 years building a beautiful estate. Today the Ham home is a monument to its time period and is open to visitors to learn about Dubuque when it was in its infancy.

Three miles from downtown Dubuque is the world-famous Eagle Point Park. While the Great Depression devastated the entire country financially, it presented an opportunity for Dubuque to enhance its city park and develop "a city in a garden" that would become an architectural landmark.

For nearly 150 years, Dubuque was the center of millworking in the United States. The Millwork District was the industrial hub of the city and today is finding a new way to enrich the community while preserving its hardworking history.

Explore Iowa's oldest city through the history of its settlement, industrial booms, faith and iconic downtown structures.

One of the biggest tourist draws to Dubuque is the Fenelon Place Elevator, the shortest and steepest funicular in the world. While a fun oddity, the elevator is also a window into the town's unique relationship with its breathtaking landscape.

To see the skyline of Dubuque is to know how important faith is to the history of the city. The stories of St. Luke's and Steeple Square tell the history of its first non-native religion, the modern retention of Dubuque's oldest Catholic churches and their transformation into an important community center.

Explore Iowa's oldest city through the history of its settlement, industrial booms, faith, and iconic downtown structures.