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Center for Dubuque History & Loras College Archives: Home

About the CDH

The Center contains numerous and varied sources for Dubuque area history.  Among them are:

  • Over 30,000 photographs arranged by subject
  • Dubuque area newspapers on microfilm from 1836 to the present
  • Federal Census records for Dubuque County 1840-1930
  • Special Iowa Census for Dubuque County 1854,1856,1885,1895,1905,1915,1925
  • Works Progress Administration local newspaper index arranged by subjects
  • Dubuque County Tax lists 1853-1906 [incomplete]
  • Proceedings and reports of the Dubuque City Council 1837-1900
  • Extensive obituary file alphabetical by surname
  • Dubuque City Directories on microfilm 1856 to present [incomplete]
  • Dubuque County plat books, 1874,1892, and 1906
  • Dubuque Sanborn Fire Insurance Map (1909)
  • Maps—including city, state, Mississippi River, aerial, and topographic
  • Vertical files arranged by subjects (businesses, schools, churches, etc.)
  • Oral histories, videos, 16 mm film, DVDs, etc.
  • Artwork, sketches, paintings, architectural drawings
  • Manuscripts, letters, diaries
  • Secondary sources including city & county histories, business and family histories, etc.

The CDH is open to the public, see above for our posted hours. Anyone interested in Dubuque area history is welcome to use the material assembled in the collection. Because of the unique and/or archival nature of the materials in the collection, they do not circulate but can be scanned or copied. Photocopy/scanning services are available for a fee. We enjoy helping researchers find the information they are looking for, but do charge a fee for research requests that will take longer than 20 minutes to answer.

The Center for Dubuque History is located on the lower level of the Miller Academic Resource Center (MARC) on the Loras College campus. 

Archive Catalog

Hours

The Center for Dubuque History/Loras College Archives is open by appointment only.

To make an appointment you can:

  1. Use our scheduling program
  2. Email cdh@loras.edu
  3. Call 563-588-7873

Please note that same-day appointments are unlikely to be available.

Evening and weekend appointments are available, but must be made at least a week in advance using the email or phone number above.

Not all resources require an appointment to use. To see a list of available resources visit https://library.loras.edu/cdh/visit


The CDH/LCA is closed when the Library is closed. Please check the Library Hours page for dates we will be closed.

Contact Information

Email: cdh@loras.edu

Phone: 563-588-7163

Mail: 1450 Alta Vista St,
         Dubuque, IA 52001

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