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.
IOWA IRON WORKS
IOWA IRON WORKS. Major participant in Dubuque's BOAT BUILDING. The firm of Rouse, Dean & Company, an iron foundry and machine shop, was established in March 1852 on the corner of Ninth and Washington STREETS. It later became known as Rouse & Dean. On April 15, 1880 the firm of Rouse and Dean was dissolved with the retirement of H. Rouse. C.B. Dean, William Hopkins, and J. McMurchy carried on business as Dean, Hopkins, & McMurchy.
The company employed sixty men in 1880 in the manufacture of movable and stationary engines, heavy steamboat work castings, and columns for buildings. The workforce earned about $3,000 per month and the sales of the company reached $75,000 annually. The company eventually became known as the DUBUQUE BOAT AND BOILER WORKS.
Boats Constructed by the Iowa Iron Works
Clyde 1870
W.M. Hopkins 1871
J.G. Chapman 1872
Ida Patton 1884
J.K. Graves 1885
Jeanne Hopkins 1888
Cherokee 1888
Ferd Herold 1890
Reliance 1890
Joy Patton 1891
L.E. Patton 1894
Windom 1896
Charles H. Organ 1897
Ericsson 1897
William K. Kavanaugh 1898
L.S. Thorne 1898
Betsey Ann 1899
Annie Russell 1902
Sprague 1902
Pelican 1902
Robert E. Carr 1903