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.
ROCKDALE
ROCKDALE. Annexed to the city of Dubuque in the late 1970s, Rockdale was settled by miners from the Swaledale Valley in Yorkshire, England, who were lured to the region by the search for LEAD. The site was first called "Dubuque Mills" because of its nearness to Dubuque. (1)
By 1834 the area boasted possibly the first grist mill in the state. A small building built by David and William Hutton, father and son, with only one set of French burrs about three feet in diameter, the mill was said to produce a quality product. (2) This eventually became ROCKDALE MILL. (3) WALLER'S FURNACE was also present. The first Rockdale church and a school was established by 1838. Originally called "Catfish Settlement," the name was changed in 1851 or 1852 by a minister of the Rockdale Methodist Church. Anthony Simpson was the first postmaster when this office was established on August 15, 1857. The office was closed on November 14, 1902 when Rural Free Delivery (RFD) was established.
On the evening of July 4, 1876, a summer shower turned into a violent downpour when caused CATFISH CREEK to surge from its banks to a depth estimated at twenty-four feet and a width of hundreds of feet. In the ROCKDALE FLOOD the community lost a hotel, saloon, post office, blacksmith shop, two stores and several houses. Some survivors were found clinging to tree tops. The death toll listed forty-two people.
In 2024 efforts to upgrade the sanitary sewer system south of Dubuque uncovered part of the destroyed community. An archaeological dig found fragments of brick and glass. As a result, the design team relocated the sewer force main line leading to the recovery center away from the ruins. (4)
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Source:
1. "First Grist Mill Built at Rockdale," The Telegraph-Herald, August 31, 1958, p. 23
2. "Rockdale," Dubuque Herald, July 31, 1876, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18760730&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
3. Ibid.
4. Gray, Chris. "Dubuque Sewer Upgrade Planned," Telegraph Herald, August 14, 2024, p. 3A