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.
ICE PALACE
ICE PALACE. First ice structure of its kind in Iowa. On February 3, 1888, Joseph A. RHOMBERG unveiled an illuminated building constructed from blocks of ICE. With spires at its corners and topped by a dozen American figs, the ice palace was a featured part of a winter sports attraction located in what became Comiskey Park.
A newspaper report on the day of the opening stated that Rhomberg intended to add two wings to the building if the weather remained cold. In addition to the palace, Rhomberg had a six hundred foot toboggan slide constructed nearby and within a half block of a streetcar route.