24/7 Trauma & Biohazard Cleanup Near West Durango Durango, IA

Durango is a tiny incorporated city in Dubuque County in northeastern Iowa, part of the Dubuque metropolitan area, set in the bluff country along the Little Maquoketa River.

Durango's roots reach back to Iowa's earliest lead-mining days - the 'Durango diggings' were already being worked before 1820, when explorer Henry Schoolcraft recorded them under the name 'Mine of Maquanquitons.'

Durango is one of Dubuque County's oldest settlements, and in the county's earliest years it was already important enough to serve as one of its first election precincts.

With just 20 residents at the 2020 census, Durango was the least populous city in Dubuque County.

Unusually, every one of Durango's 8 households in the 2020 census was a family household - the census recorded 20 people, 8 households, and 8 families, with no resident living alone.

Durango's population peaked at 71 in the 1950 census and has declined steadily since, falling to 24 in 2000 and 20 in 2020.

The entire city of Durango covers only about 0.077 square miles - roughly 49 acres - yet it still packs in a population density of about 264 people per square mile.

On August 2, 1972, a flash flood on the Little Maquoketa River forced the evacuation of Durango after more than six inches of rain fell in a few hours and floodwater rose at least six feet over the bridge at Durango; remarkably, no lives were lost.