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.
FURNACES (LEAD PROCESSING)
FURNACES (LEAD PROCESSING). Four furnaces for processing lead ore were established in the Dubuque area in 1860. One was located at the foot of Southern Avenue. A second of east of Center Grove. A third furnace was one mile west of Catfish Mills and the last was west of a site called Stewarts.
In 1862, a year in which ore was worth between $37.00 and $44.00 per thousand pounds, one million pounds of lead ore were mined in Dubuque. With the need for lead during the CIVIL WAR, prices rose from $48.00 to $90.00 in 1864.