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.
WESTERN STAGE COACH COMPANY
WESTERN STAGE COACH COMPANY. Primary source of transportation for Dubuque residents in the 1850s and 1860s. Using Concord coaches with oval bodies, seating for nine, brightly painted interiors and exteriors, and doors featuring landscape scenes, the company operated from its offices on Second and Main STREETS. Each coach, pulled by a team of four horses, was built with heavy straps that served as springs. The pitching and rolling as they traveled the rough roads, however, often threw unfortunate passengers onto the floor of the coach.
Developments in river and rail transportation ended the colorful days of the stagecoach. The Western Stage Coach Company, which once served eight midwestern states, closed its Dubuque office in 1870.