Cathedral Historic District, historic district in Dubuque, Iowa
The Cathedral Historic District is a neighborhood in Dubuque featuring Renaissance Revival buildings constructed mainly between 1850 and 1900. The structures display arched windows, decorative cornices, and symmetrical facades, while St. Raphael Cathedral with its stone tower stands as the heart of the area.
The district developed in the mid-1800s as a residential area for Irish immigrants arriving in Dubuque. St. Raphael Cathedral was established in 1857 and gained a prominent stone steeple in the 1870s, becoming a landmark for the neighborhood.
This neighborhood was a center for Irish immigrants in Dubuque, who built simple homes here and gathered at St. Raphael Cathedral as their community anchor. You can still see the marks of this Irish settlement in the modest houses and the church that served as a meeting place.
The neighborhood sits on flat terrain with steep streets like West Third Street leading toward the upper bluff. The area is walkable with sidewalks and small parks that let you explore at your own pace.
The district was built on a flat river terrace with West Third Street as a steep historic path that once carried people up to the bluff plateau. In the 1870s, the Hill Street Railway was built to make climbing these hills easier and help families move uphill.
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