Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
JOHN EMERSON HOME
John Emerson Home. Located on the site of what became Wartburg Seminary, the home was one of Dubuque's most elaborate ITALIAN VILLA ARCHITECTURE homes. When a mortgage on the property was foreclosed in 1881 by a New York bank, the property was purchased by the Dubuque Board of Trade.
The property was then given to WARTBURG THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY in 1888 to encourage it to return to Dubuque. An addition was constructed on the home which was used by the seminary until construction of the present Wartburg buildings between 1914 and 1916.