Blood & Biohazard Cleanup Near Downtown Dubuque, IA

Dubuque is the oldest city in Iowa - settled in 1788 and chartered in 1833, it was the first permanent European settlement in what became the state.

The city is named after French-Canadian trader Julien Dubuque, who in 1788 received permission from the Meskwaki people to mine lead near the mouth of Catfish Creek, making him the first European to settle in Iowa.

Dubuque is the county seat of Dubuque County and sits on steep bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River in northeast Iowa.

The population of Dubuque was 59,667 at the 2020 census, making it one of Iowa's largest cities and the commercial hub of the tri-state area where Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin meet.

Dubuque has more than 26,000 households, and about two-thirds of its homes - 65.8% in Census Bureau figures - are owner-occupied.

Dubuque is home to the Fenelon Place Elevator, billed as the world's shortest and steepest scenic railway - just 296 feet long, it lifts passengers 189 feet up the bluff, and it was built in 1882 by banker J.K. Graves so he could get home for lunch.

From the top of Dubuque's bluffs and the elevator's observation decks you can see three states at once - Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Dubuque is a college town known for its 'Tri-Colleges' - Loras College, Clarke University and the University of Dubuque - which share a friendly rivalry.

Dubuque's riverfront Port of Dubuque district is home to the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, and the city brands itself the 'Masterpiece on the Mississippi'.

Lead mining and the fur trade built early Dubuque, and St. Luke's United Methodist Church in the city is the oldest Methodist church in Iowa.