Encyclopedia Dubuque
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CATHEDRAL HISTORIC DISTRICT
CATHEDRAL HISTORIC DISTRICT. Note: The following information comes directly from the Jackson Park Historic District, Phase IV District report written by James E. Jacobsen for History Pays! Historic Preservation Consulting Firm of Des Moines, Iowa, 2003. This abridged version is used to give a brief view of the district's history. For the full report see: http://www.cityofdubuque.org/1475/Historic-Reports
The original National Register of Historic Places Cathedral district nomination (1984) describes the basically flat river terrace setting of the vast majority of the district, and notes the notable raised deviation of St. Mary Street which occupies a raised terrace setting west of and above St. Raphael Cathedral.
The most notable terrace projection is one that expands from the base of the West Third Street hill. This elevation contrasts markedly with the lower grade Cathedral Block. To the southeast the ground falls away gradually. A second marked terrace is the site of the present day Central School. The ground drops abruptly along the back lots along Emmett Street.
In the north end of the district the west end of the lots which front east on to Bluff Street, to the north of West 5th Street. As the historical images indicate, the base of the bluff cut much further west, crowding or limiting the depths of the Bluff Street houses. Long narrow plans not surprisingly followed on those lots. The images further document that the intense pressure to develop encouraged the laying out of streets and the building of numerous bluff front houses, none of which survive. The same images document this intensive land use pattern with some glaring exceptions. This was represented by the development along alleyways in the area west of Bluff and to the north of West 3 streets.
The nomination claims that the 4th Street Elevator is rightfully a part of this district rather than the bluff top, explaining it as being due to the absence of a ravine at that point. In fact, elevator is functionally related to Fenelon Place and had no linkage with the Cathedral district apart from its role in facilitating through traffic. There were no good westward uphill routes at any point along the district. West Third Street was the only direct route and it was very steep. Its steepness did not prevent the location of the Catholic Cemetery and other church institutions along its bluff edge in the 1870s but it was not used as a major thoroughfare. West 8th Street was the principal farm-market and trade route and ran just north of the edge of the district. An indirect route ascended the 5th Street Hill and, while it encouraged bluff front houses, it was never a major or convenient route of ascent. The elevator consequently played the initial role of extending bluff top settlement and that role actually diminished the need to live below the bluffs. Beginning in 1877, the Hill Street Railway provided mass transit access to the bluffs and the westward movement was made all the more feasible.
The plat naturally followed the river terrace which broadened and turned to the southwest below West 1st Street. Bluff and the other principal streets turned at that point and in that direction. Building lots unfailingly oriented east/west onto these principal streets. The lots west of Bluff were elongated. It is noteworthy that no provision was made for north/south oriented lots around Washington Park or on the cross streets. Consequently the vast majority of district buildings orient east/west and buildings fronting on cross streets tend to be of shallow draft so as to fit their partial lots. Only West Third and West 5th streets proceeded west of Bluff. Alleys were improved to function as additional means of access. The district nomination notes the important fact that numerous early Bluff Street residences, fronting east, were positioned in the centers of these long narrow lots and were “buried” visually when later infill was constructed across their frontages. Again, the historical images document many of these hidden buildings, all of which date to the 1850s.
Historical Contexts: The original district nomination identifies the following historical contexts or themes: ◙significance “primarily based on the architectural significance of the area.”
◙“the best concentration of residential structures in Dubuque’s earliest extant neighborhood.”
◙a significance period of 1850-1900
◙place of residence for ‘the majority of the Irish population.”
The following descriptive distinctions are noted:
◙houses having “direct street frontage, uniform setbacks and little or no side yards”
◙the development of this district was completed at least ten years prior to that of Jackson Park.
◙Cathedral contains several early frame house/cottage examples
◙no other churches were ever located within the district apart from the cathedral. Catholic institutions played an important role in the Cathedral District.
◙Cathedral district had both a public and parochial elementary school
◙the Cathedral district is set cheek and jowl with the expanding downtown commercial district and a substantial industrial presence along lower Locust Street.
◙there is little evidence that the Cathedral district ever included much if any commercial buildings or services, apart from the commercial zone along Locust Street.
◙the Cathedral district included a number of public institutions, its own fire house (located in WASHINGTON PARK and later at 4th and Locust), Washington Park came close to being the site for the new courthouse in the 1870s, and the Federal Building/post office building (1932).
◙Washington Park is a “true” public square that occupies a square that is bordered on all sides by streets.
◙the district included a fair number of early mansions, reflective of the early walking city wherein industrialists and merchants could walk to their places of employment. Most of these early mansions were lost, 396 Locust, actually excluded from the district, is one survivor. A second wave of mansion building, in the north end of the district south of the park, followed in the mid-1880s. The Farley mansion survives.
The original nomination document contains a few errors and on other points warrants some clarification.
◙page 7-1 states that the district “has resisted commercial expansion” and on page 8-1 notes “Together with the neighborhood saloon, grocer, and an assortment of small home occupation businesses, the district thrived...” In fact the district coexisted with an increasingly commercial Locust Street and an array of major factories that located mostly on Locust but also at Third and Bluff. Proximity to the downtown apparently retarded the emergence of neighborhood based corner groceries and similar stores and services. One exception was doctors’ offices, several of which located in houses to the west of Locust Street. The present- day commercial development along Bluff, West 4th, etc. is a much later development. As late s 1891 there is no indication that anything but residential land uses predominated within the district. In fact the belated development of commercial land uses at the foot of the 4th Street Elevator resulted in the establishment of a local historical preservation program and served as the catalyst for surveying and listing the several historic districts.
◙the same page is unclear concerning the construction date for the cathedral. The Panic of 1857 caused a change in the style but not the actual construction, which took place in 1857. The document implies that the cathedral retains its original design as “the most outstanding example of Gothic Revival architecture in Dubuque.” The façade was veneered with stone and a steeple added in the 1870s. The core building is the earliest example but most of the city churches employ the same style.
◙the district contained “the majority of the Irish population...[the cathedral]...served as a catalyst for immigration and growth in the District” and its buildings reflect that. More recent research places “Little Dublin” in the southernmost end of the district, extending up Dodge Street and to points further south. While the district includes several early frame cottages, the vast majority of early Irish frame residences have been lost, many of these in very recent years due to the several highway projects. One discovery, since the district was listed, was a miner’s cottage in the backyard of 480 Emmett. St. Mary Street, while of frame construction, is of later date and has no identified Irish dominance in the population. The presumption that the presence of the cathedral proves the Irish residency claim is a probability, given that all of the new parishes which broke away from the original parish were German congregations. Suffice it to say is that Cathedral district does not necessarily equal Dublin and the necessary research has not been done to determine how Irish the district was over time.
◙page 7-1 dates the firehouse at 417 Locust to the mid-1850s. This was likely a stylistic assumption given the presence of a belvedere (bell tower). The building was built much later, in 1884.
◙a more important point of confusion involves the definition of vernacular architecture. Page 7-1 terms the architecture “mid- to late-19th Century brick vernacular” while page 7-4 further defines the architecture as “more popular and derivative executions of architectural styles drawn from pattern books and builder’s guides than high style buildings design by architects.” Vernacular is vernacular, and its source cannot be credited to these origins which still represent a derivative of academic design. Vernacular design is derived from a more informal, uncodified mix of traditional building forms. The end result certainly is influenced both by particular builder/designers and particular client tastes and popular styles.
◙on this second point, the link between vernacular and academic architecture, the nomination is again confusing, and this is not a minor point of confusion. Page 7-2 states “while not high style in design, these structures were predominantly vernacular adaptations of traditional styles...” and the district offers “a diversity of styles and details that makes it a unique district in the City.” Page 7-4 notes the already quoted role played by pattern books and builder’s guides “than high style buildings designed by architects.” In fact, the district possesses some of the best academic architectural examples to be found in the city and several of the recently lost buildings (A. A. Cooper House) would be on that honor roll if they had survived. The statements are accurate with regard to most of the district but there was always a high-end academic architectural presence, above and beyond that to be found on Cathedral Square. Most of these examples were the mansions which were built in two time phases. Within the vernacular range of buildings the same minimal overlap is found between Italianate style and the side and gable front vernacular house designs, the difference usually boiling down to the presence or loss of brackets and original windows.
◙the nomination used one stylistic category that would no longer be employed, this being the “Terrace” (parapet front apartment blocks) style.
◙finally the nomination classified all post-1900 buildings as being non-contributing and was fairly intolerant of porch losses and re-sidings. A much shorter list of these buildings is identified in this evaluation. Buildings which are still capable of making a visual contribution to the district are deemed to be contributing ones. District Physical Development: One of the strengths of the original nomination was a detailed and accurate descriptive summary of the district over time. There is no reason to reiterate that summary. This addendum simply adds panoramic overview and any new findings.
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Source:
Jacobsen, James E. "The Cathedral Historic District Phase IV District Report", 2003 (Abridged) For the full report see. http://www.cityofdubuque.org/index.aspx?nid=1475
