ICE HARBOR

THIS ENTRY IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING EDITED AND FOOTNOTED.

Boat building to skating kept the ice harbor a busy place all year.

Even before the protective gates, the ice harbor provided winter protection for boats on the Upper Mississippi.

Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

1854 map showing the early waterfront.

ICE HARBOR. Early commercial development of Dubuque was hampered by physical barriers to STEAMBOATS. The western bank of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER was a maze of peninsulas, sloughs, and bayous. Physical obstacles to transportation in the channel included many islands. The landing was also a considerable distance from the business district of the early 1800s.

Plans for solving the problem began early in the history of Dubuque. As early as 1836 a proposal was made to cut a canal approximately one-third mile long to link the riverbank with a steamboat landing on the inner slough. This plan called for a channel that would allow boats into the business section of town. It would also form a channel through LAKE PEOSTA that would drain both the inner and lower sloughs. Despite a public meeting and the offering of a number of suggestions, nothing was done.

Acting under authority of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, a board of trustees was organized in 1837. The first ordinance passed by the trustees called for the removal of obstructions from the slough to make it navigable. A committee carried out this order to the best of its ability.

The St. Louis to Dubuque steamboat commerce continued to expand. While in 1835 only ten steamboats were operating between the two cities, by 1838 twenty-two were part of the commercial link. Newspaper editorials called for action that would enable steamboats to use all or a great part of the two-mile long riverfront at Dubuque.

In 1852 a group of Dubuque businessmen were granted the right to dig a ship canal through an island that existed at the foot of Second Street. This ambitious project was named the "Waples Cut" after Peter WAPLES.

Two years after the right to construct the canal had been granted, the project was still not completed. Hundreds of steamboat landings in Dubuque were now recorded annually. Increasing the need to improve the riverfront was the extension of Dubuque STREETS to the river's edge. This was accomplished between 1855 and 1857 by the DUBUQUE HARBOR COMPANY, Dubuque Harbor Improvement Company, and the Dubuque Central Improvement Company that filled in sloughs.

Supplies were purchased with "currency" issued by the construction companies.

Confidence in the “currency” came from the names of important Dubuque residents who were stockholders in the company.

Photo courtesy: Cathy's Treasures, 156 Main, Dubuque, Iowa

In 1858 Congress designated Dubuque a "Port of Entry." Waples Cut was by then evolving into a protective harbor in which barges and other river craft escaped the ravages of winter and crushing ice floes in the spring.

While Dubuque was attempting to improve its waterfront, in 1880 Congressional financing was sought to develop a winter harbor for riverboats. For the Upper Mississipi, an ice harbor had to offer certain essentials: the site had to offer absolute safety in a bay with still water and freedom from running ice at all stages of the river; sufficient depth to float vessels of any kind; and accessibility to the main channel, stockyards, machines shops and all other facilities of a large town. (1) Various sites were studied by the United States Army Corps of Engineers before it proposed widening and dredging Waples Cut. (2)

Waples Cut, however, had its problems. It was constantly filling in from deposits for the sewers, muddy water typical of the Mississippi, and breaking up and washing off of lumber rafts. (3) In 1882 little of the area had more than two feet of water when the river was low. This could lead to boats freezing in the mud and then sinking with the water rose in the spring. (3) In 1882 Congress appropriated twenty thousand dollars to dredge down six feet below low-water mark and provide room for twenty steamers and fifty barges. In 1884 Congress appropriated another twenty thousand dollars for the ice harbor. (4) By 1885 most of the work had been accomplished.

In 1944 Congress appropriated $7,500-the first federal harbor improvement funding on the upper Mississippi-to deepen the harbor to allow it to accommodate the newer class steamer.

In addition to a safe haven for ships, the Ice Harbor developed into a prime shipbuilding site on the upper Mississippi. The IOWA IRON WORKS and later the DUBUQUE BOAT AND BOILER WORKS built vessels along the harbor's north side.

Winter meant the use of the area for community ICE SKATING. A circular wooden fence surrounded the skating area on the western half of the harbor. Ice was harvested outside the harbor and north along the Iowa side of the river.

Flood gates, constructed in 1973 to protect the flatlands nearby, now partially block the harbor's mouth and are closed when the river's level reaches sixteen-feet.

In 1985 the GREATER DUBUQUE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION began the effort to transform the Ice Harbor from a scene of manufacturing into a tourist center of eastern Iowa. Development of the Ice Harbor had been part of a recent five-year economic plan for the city. The Corporation's plan was to go to the City Council and propose that Newt Marine Service should move to CHAPLAIN SCHMITT ISLAND. A new $1 million harbor would be constructed between the 16th street boat ramp and the DUBUQUE-WISCONSN BRIDGE. (5)

In 1990 the NATIONAL RIVERS HALL OF FAME and the FRED W. WOODWARD RIVERBOAT MUSEUM utilized the harbor with their popular floating museum, the WILLIAM M. BLACK.

As 2010 ended, the Dubuque ice harbor was one of the most popular places to visit in the community thanks to the America's River Project.

Additions to the landscape included the DIAMOND JO CASINO, additions to the museums of the DUBUQUE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY including an aquarium and 3D theater, Grand River Meeting and Conference Center, a restored DUBUQUE STAR BREWING COMPANY, and commercial development including the Durrant Group Corporate Headquarters and The McGraw-Hill Companies, a $32 million, 4-story office building, and the Grand Harbor Resort and Water Park.

(Photo Courtesy: http://www.dubuquepostcards.com)

Photo courtesy: Cathy's Treasures, 156 Main, Dubuque

Postcard featuring iceskating.

Photo courtesy: Jim Massey

Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

{Photo courtesy: Jim Massey

Photo courtesy: Jim Massey

Photo courtesy: Jim Massey

Postcard shows the ice harbor in the 1950s.

Facing the ice harbor, this wall lists major donors to the America's River project.

Situated on the site of the Dubuque Boat and Boiler Works, this building signifies a new major attraction to the city.

The Diamond Jo Casino attracts thousands to the ice harbor to gamble or enjoy its entertainment.

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1. The Ice Harbor," Dubuque Herald, May 14, 1882, p. 3. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DKNCAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PKsMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4728,140932&dq=ice+cut+through+harbor+dubuque&hl=en

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. The Ice Harbor, Dubuque Herald, May 4, 1884, p. 3. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XsdCAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YasMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4189,6504579&dq=ice+harbor+dubuque&hl=en

Oldt, Franklin T. History of Dubuque County. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/franklin-t-oldt/history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl/page-26-history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl.shtml