Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
HILLCREST HOUSING DEVELOPMENT
HILLCREST HOUSING DEVELOPMENT. From 1947-1948, the Iowa Improvement Company of Waterloo, Iowa, working with E.B. Matthewson Company Engineers of Chicago, Illinois, created a housing development to accommodate the rush of John Deere workers to the new Dubuque plant. This development was the first project city officials allowed to be built outside the city limits.
The small single-story homes, known as "John Deere houses," along Morningview, Broadlawn, and Avalon STREETS had a similar style. Each had eight-inch thick cement exterior walls, red brick facades, and metal window casings and frames. Floors were asphalt tile squares over a cement slab.
By September 11, 1947, the Hillcrest Housing Development contained roughly approximately twelve finished units. There were 110 homes due by mid-February 1948, including 95 two or three-bedroom houses and 15 one or two-bedroom duplexes. Only veteran John Deere workers transferred from the Moline or Waterloo plants and commuting to Dubuque were eligible to purchase and occupy the homes.
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