Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
RATH, Johann Christian Frederick
RATH, Johann Christian Frederick. (Hanover, Germany, May 1, 1811--Dubuque, IA, Sept. 15, 1891). Cabinetmaker, farmer, and gardener. Rath came to Dubuque in 1851 and bought a great deal of land along Wilde Street, now Mt. Loretta Avenue. The rear of his home at 1204 Mt. Loretta resembles STEAMBOAT ARCHITECTURE.
Until the 1930s the home, now on the NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES, remained in the Rath family. There was no heat, electricity, or running water installed in the home until the 1940s.