Dubuque, city, seat of Dubuque County, northeastern Iowa, a port on the Mississippi River, opposite Illinois and Wisconsin; incorporated as a city 1841. It is the processing and shipping center of an agricultural area producing grains and dairy products. Manufactures include motor vehicles, furniture, snow-removal equipment, and construction materials. Since the introduction of legalized riverboat gambling, tourism has increased. The University of Dubuque (1852), Loras College (1839), Clarke College (1843), and theological seminaries are here. Lead mining at this site probably began with the Fox people in the late 17th century and continued until 1870. Julien Dubuque, a French-Canadian (for whom the city is named), settled here to mine lead in 1788. Native American claims to the land were ceded in 1833 by the Black Hawk Treaty, and the community was founded as a mining center and platted the same year. Dubuque was a shipbuilding center from 1850 to 1920. Population 62,321 (1980); 57,546 (1990); 56,467 (1998 estimate).
