The Bishop's Block, also known as the Bishop's Block Apartments, is an historic building located in

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

, United States. It was individually listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1994. It was included as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

in the Old Main Street Historic District in 2015.

History

The building significance is derived from its association with its architect, Franklin D. Hyde. with He was a Dubuque architect known for his residential designs. Considered his best work, Hyde designed the building in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style. It was completed in 1887 and the exterior is composed of brick. The building measures tall and rises five floors. At one time the building had a distinctive

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

on its northwest corner. The building was commissioned by John Hennessy, the third

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the Catholic Diocese of Dubuque, and derives its name from him. He was involved in speculative real estate and business ventures in the Dubuque area, and he built or acquired numerous buildings around the city. This building was first occupied by wholesale grocer Marshall M. Walker. After five years, the John T. Hancock Company was housed here. The Western Grocery Company occupied the building from 1908 into the 1950s. It has subsequently been renovated into apartments.

References

Industrial buildings completed in 1887 Romanesque Revival architecture in Iowa Apartment buildings in Dubuque, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Dubuque, Iowa Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Iowa {{Iowa-struct-stub