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.
BARRACKS (THE)
BARRACKS (THE). Patterned after New York apartment houses prior to the CIVIL WAR, "The Barracks" was located at the corner of West Seventh and Race STREETS. Constructed in 1856 by G. W. Cummins, the three-story building contained forty-eight rooms each 11 x 30 feet. Built of white oak, the building when finally destroyed by fire in 1914 burned slowly showing the quality of material that had not decayed over time.
Al5hough considered fine housing when built, the building was gradually considered out-of-date. An effort to have the building demolished was made in 1882 with the issue being presented to the city council. In the last twenty-years of its existence the tenants were often the cause of police calls. Just before its destruction, the building had been condemned by a deputy state fire marshal and work to raze the structure had begun.
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Source:
" 'The Barracks as an Old Landmark," Dubuque-Telegraph Herald, February 8, 1914, p. 9
