Dec. 21, 2018 -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

City of Dubuque and Mathias Ham Historic Site Receive 'Great' Support
 
CONTACTS:
Wendy Scardino, Director of Marketing & Communications
563-590-5542, wscardino@rivermuseum.com
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
 563-589-4110, cburbach@cityofdubuque.org

Dubuque, Iowa –The City of Dubuque, in collaboration with the Dubuque County Historical Society, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded an Iowa Great Places Grant by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and Iowa Great Places Citizens Advisory Board.
 
The $285,762 award supports the Mathias Ham Historic Site’s five-acre campus, which connects the diverse Washington and Central Corridor neighborhoods with the Eagle Point Park District and completes the rich and diverse story of Dubuque’s Driftless North End.
 
Funding will support the long-term preservation and restoration of the Mathias Ham Historic Site including a conditions assessment of the Ham House, significant landscape enhancement, and restoration work on the Ham House, Humke School House, and Arrandeaux Log Cabin—Iowa’s oldest building.
 
The Iowa Great Places Program seeks to recognize places that take action to enhance their local assets while staying true to the qualities that make them unique. The Mathias Ham Historic Site depicts life in Dubuque in the 19^th century and presents tours, events, programs, and living-history interpretation to approximately 11,000 visitors each year from throughout the United States and beyond.
 
The Mathias Ham Historic Site is located in the “Driftless North End”, the geographic area recognized as an Iowa Great Place earlier in 2018.  The region extends from the bluffs east to the Mississippi River, and from Loral Blvd north to the Four Mounds Estate.  
 
The Iowa Great Places Program was established in 2005, and funding is made possible by an annual appropriation from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund. More information on the Iowa Great Places Program is available by visiting iowaculture.gov.

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About the Mathias Ham Historic Site
 
The Mathias Ham Historic Site, a City of Dubuque property operated by the Dubuque County Historical Society, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The historic property includes the Mathias Ham House, Iowa’s oldest log cabin, the Humke Schoolhouse, and a replica lead mine and miner’s dwelling. The Mathias Ham Historic Site is located at 2241 Lincoln Ave., Dubuque, Iowa. For more information on the Mathias Ham Historic Site, visit www.rivermuseum.com/hamsite.