Tickets & Pricing
Opens for the season on May 25, 2019
Adults: $7.50
Youth (Ages 3-17): $4.00
Children 2 and under admitted free.
Receive a free parking voucher for Eagle Point Park with admission to the Mathias Ham Historic Site! Admission is free to members of the Dubuque County Historical Society. Group rates are available.
Purchase Tickets
Fans of the Paranormal - A Disclaimer
Please know that the Ham Site does not provide ghost tours; regardless of what you may have read through a web search. There have been many tall tales that have taken root over the years, however, the Dubuque County Historical Society and its staff do not take stock in these stories. We'd love to interpret the history of the Ham Site, but we leave the rest to speculation.
Hours & Tours
Site is currently closed for the season; however, the Site will be open for special public events through the fall and winter. See upcoming activities and events for more details.
The Mathias Ham Historic Site is open Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Wednesdays through Sundays.
Hours are 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. (last tour begins at 3:30 P.M.)
The Mathias Ham House is also available for field trips, group visits and private functions at any time by appointment. For field trips and group tours, contact Melissa Wersinger at 563-557-9545 or mwersinger@rivermuseum.com. For all other questions, contact Victoria Cote, Historic Site Coordinator, at 563-557-9545 x218 or vcote@rivermuseum.com for more information.
historic site faq
Upcoming Ham Site Activities & Events
Sundays Summer of 2019 - Picnics
The staff of the Ham Site invite you and your family to pack a picnic lunch and spread your blanket on the Ham Site grounds any Sunday during our season. The grounds are open to the public and cost nothing. Children can explore the school, log cabin, and miner's dwelling.
Sundays Summer of 2019 - Crafts
Look for a new craft the first Sunday of each month during our summer season! Crafts are just $5 each and guests do not require admission to the Ham Site. Crafts begin at noon and are available while supplies last.
July 4, 2019 - 56th Annual Ice Cream Social
Free tours of the Mathias Ham House; historic games, activities and demonstrations; cannon fire; and great food for purchase! Join us on the Fourth of July for some good old fashioned fun!
September 21, 2019 - Smithsonian Museum Day
Mathias Ham House
This stately country villa stands today as a living reflection of its wealthy builder, Mathias Ham. One of Dubuque’s earliest entrepreneurs, Ham built his estate over the course of many years from 1839 to 1857 with money earned from his successful lead mining endeavors.
Inside the home, elegant American and European furnishings exemplify the opulent Victorian lifestyle of a booming river town. John F. Rague designed this distinctive example of the Italian Villa style of architecture. As architect for the Old State Capitols of Illinois and Iowa, Rague’s buildings were known for their monumental scale and elegance.
Settler’s Cabin – Iowa’s Oldest Standing Building
The settler’s log cabin is Iowa’s oldest standing building, believed to have been built in the late 1820s by a French fur trader and later occupied by lead miners. It was originally located on the corner of 2nd and Locusts Streets in downtown Dubuque. It was moved to Eagle Point Park before being moved to the grounds of the Mathias Ham Historic Site in the 1960s. The double room style is known as a “dog trot” cabin.
One Room Schoolhouse
The last one-room school used in Dubuque County, the Humke School was built in 1883 and was used through 1966. It was located on Humke Road, west of Dubuque.
At the Lead Mines
Dubuque was once the center of a nationally significant lead mining phenomenon. People came from all over the country to mine lead, and the At the Lead Mines area of the Mathias Ham Historic Site recreates the interior of a lead mine and a badger hole (a lead miner’s shelter).
Granary
Saved from the path of progress, the 1840s granary building was moved from its original location on Southern Avenue to the Mathias Ham Historic Site when the construction of Highway 61 threatened its destruction in 1989. Nineteenth-century farmers used granaries after threshing to sore and protect grain from rats, mice, weevils and grain moths. Granaries were well ventilated to prevent spoilage and waste.
A grant from the Dubuque Racing Association supported the restoration of the granary in 2012, with help from Four Mounds’ HEART Program.