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Historic Dubuque

A flat city center on the mighty Mississippi River contrasts with the surrounding rolling hills and many rivers characteristic of the Driftless Area. This map represents Dubuque, Iowa, more or less as it was before industrialized human settlement (except for the highway and rail networks, of course). Aside from being an important rail junction and harbor, Dubuque also benefits from plentiful mineral resources, historically primarily in the form of lead and zinc. This map is based on a heightmap from https://heightmap.skydark.pl which I modified by undoing some artifical modifications to the terrain. Namely, I removed Lock and Dam No. 11, returned City Island to a peninsula by filling in the Lake Peosta Channel, and returned Dubuque Harbor to its natural shape. I used old maps and survey data, primarily the 1875 Shober map, to try and create a realistic impression of what the terrain looked like before Dubuque developed into a city so that players could "start fresh."

The train network is based on its 1875 form, but the highway network is mostly the same as today. I included US Highway 20 going east/west and US Highway 61/151 north/south, including the elevated highway portion finished in 1993. The interchanges are of course completely incorrect and built up way more than in real life. Resource data is based on United States Geological Survey data and old mine maps, but I'm sure there are some mistakes and omissions. Because of how water sources work in this game the rivers are greatly exaggerated, but I hope it adds to the challenge and fun. The river systems centering around Catfish Creek and the Menominee River are mostly accurate, and the Mississippi River runs north to south just as it should. The map is designed to work with all 81 tiles unlocked. At some point in the future, I hope to use blender to model the Dubuque Wisconsin Bridge and the Julien Dubuque Bridge to give the map a more distinctive feel.

Enjoy the map and if you have any suggestions or comments please let me know. If you like what you see, consider giving the map a thumbs up so more people can enjoy it.