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.
KELLY'S BLUFF
KELLY'S BLUFF. Hill located behind ST. RAPHAEL'S CATHEDRAL and above 2nd Street. The area was named for the mysterious miner, Thomas KELLY who may have buried a fortune in gold on the site. Many people did search the area and one find amounted to $10,000.
A story in the late 1990s said that an employee of the JOHN DEERE DUBUQUE WORKS made a large find but did not tell others. Over the years, according to the story, he sold off the coins he found. This story, however, has never been proven.
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Source:
Jacobsen, James E. The Architectural and Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955, p. 7