Cathedral Historic District is a nationally recognized

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

located in

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

, United States. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1985. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 124 resources, which included 96

contributing buildings 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 dist ...

, one contributing site, one

contributing structure 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 distr ...

and 26 non-contributing buildings. with The district was the first residential area in Dubuque, and developed into a tightly knit neighborhood. It is located west of the original commercial district and below the bluffs of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

that rise steeply to the west. Although its original structures no longer stand, its historic buildings are largely from the mid to late 19th century. St. Raphael's Cathedral complex, from which the district receives its name, was important in serving immigrants, including most of the Irish immigrants to the city, and in building ties. In 1985, the district was deemed to have retained "most of its original character and fabric" from the late 1800s. Washington Park (contributing site), J.H. Thedinga House (1855), Fenelon Place Elevator (1882; contributing structure), and Redstone (1888) are all individually listed on the National Register.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Dubuque, Iowa Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Federal architecture in Iowa Italianate architecture in Iowa Historic districts in Dubuque, Iowa Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa {{DubuqueCountyIA-NRHP-stub