Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
CANALS
CANALS. Dr. Leland L. Sage in his book A History of Iowa lists canals as a "might-have-been" in Iowa history. With the Missouri River and MISSISSIPPI RIVER on its borders, Iowa might have developed feeder canals to answer the problems of mass transportation of produce to market. Dubuque along the Mississippi would have directly benefited.
Feeder canals were once proposed for Iowa and other Midwestern states. One was to run from New Boston at the mouth of the Iowa River, inland to Columbus Junction to Cedar Rapids. Another was from Waterloo and north to Austin, Minnesota. Others would have run from Columbus Junction to Marshalltown; Peterson to the Missouri River; and Ortonville, Minnesota to Fort Dodge, Des Moines and then to the Missouri River. (1)
Even allowing for the closing of the rivers and canals for ice, it has been shown that the savings provided by railroads would not have been as great as usually thought. (2)
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Source:
1. Sage, Leland L. A History of Iowa: Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1974, p. 109
2. Ibid.
