The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium is a one-of-a-kind Iowa institution founded in 2003 on the site of the former Dubuque Boat and Boiler Works, which built boats from 1870 to 1972. The roughly 26,000 objects in the museum’s collection tell a wide-ranging history of the region — from prehistoric geology to the First Peoples to fur-trappers and showboat performers.
Its campus features two floors of indoor exhibits; a National River Hall of Fame highlighting Mississippi conservationists and cultural figures like Mark Twain and Louis Armstrong; an aquarium; a walkway along the historic Ice Harbor where, in good weather, you can find red-tailed hawks, a bald eagle, otters, alligators, ducks, turtles and paddlefish in outdoor displays, among other exhibits; a freight house; two gift shops; a cafe; and tourable sites like the Arriandeaux Cabin, considered the oldest building west of the Mississippi, and a 1934 former Army Corps of Engineers dredge boat floating in Ice Harbor.
“We’ll see about 200,000 visitors this year,” said Wendy Scardino, vice president of development and marketing for the Dubuque County Historical Society, which operates the museum. “That does not include those we interact with through outreach programs or banquets at our facility. We’ve had visitors from all 50 states and 70 countries.”
“It is a joy to get to learn something new nearly every day from my colleagues who are subject matter experts, or from our interpreters on the floor.”
This article was originally published in Little Village’s December 2023 issue as a part of Peak Iowa, a collection of fascinating state stories, sites and people.
