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.
ROCKDALE FLOOD
ROCKDALE FLOOD. One of the most disastrous floods in Dubuque history. Rockdale, a village two miles south of Dubuque, was the home of the ROCKDALE MILL, one of the area's first flour mills. A trading center for area farmers, Rockdale was divided by a ravine through which the normally peaceful Catfish Creek flowed toward the MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
On the evening of July 4, 1876, celebrations of our nation's centennial had just finished when a summer shower began. What started as a drizzle turned into a downpour that within an hour caused Catfish Creek to crash out of its banks and roar toward Rockdale. A wall of watery destruction was estimated to be twenty feet deep and hundreds of feet wide.
Rockdale was never the same. In the fury, the village lost a saloon, hotel, two stores, post office, several houses, and a blacksmith shop. Among the unbelievable escapes was that of Charles Thimmesch, a barkeeper, who after warning others of the dangerous waters climbed to the roof of the post office. He ended up swimming naked to safety with his money clenched in his teeth. Other survivors were found in treetops where the water had carried them. The death toll in Dubuque was only one, but in Rockdale forty-two people lost their lives.
The flood did much to destroy the future potential of the community. Highways 151 and 61 were constructed to bypass the area that was later annexed to the city of Dubuque.