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Fenelon Place Elevator — Dubuque

The two small white and green cars of the Fenelon Place Elevator on parallel tracks on a green hillside in Dubuque, Iowa.
Artwork FileDubuque · Iowa

Fenelon Place Elevator

SeenApr 2024

First built 1882 for J. K. Graves · 512 Fenelon Place, Dubuque

Photo: Teemu008 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0), as published on Street Art Utopia. Resized, full frame.

The Fenelon Place Elevator is a short, steep funicular that carries passengers up the bluff from Fourth Street to Fenelon Place in Dubuque, Iowa. Former mayor J. K. Graves had the first cable car built in 1882 so he could ride home for his midday dinner and a nap. He rebuilt it after a fire in 1884 and opened it to the public; after a second fire in 1893 his neighbors formed a company and rebuilt it with two counterbalanced cars. Source Source Checked

Seen Apr 2024 — PBS Road Trip Iowa published a clip about the elevator on 24 April 2024. It is a report, not a dated photograph; the newest dated photograph we found is from 18 June 2010. Source Reported

💡 4 things to know

  1. A banker’s shortcutThe operator says Graves had his gardener let him down in the morning, bring him up at noon and down again after dinner and a nap. Source Reported
  2. Burned twiceThe elevator burned on 19 July 1884 and again in 1893; each fire burned through the hemp rope and sent the car crashing down the hill. Source Reported
  3. Ideas from the 1893 fairThe new company’s members went to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and brought back a streetcar motor, a turnstile and steel cable. Source Reported
  4. Short and steepThe University of Iowa calls it the world’s shortest, steepest scenic railway: 296 feet long, climbing 189 feet. Source Reported

📍 Where it is

512 Fenelon Place, Dubuque, Iowa, USA, between Fourth Street and Fenelon Place. Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

The map opens at the address; we have not checked Street View for it.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 19783 Aug

    National Register record · NPS

  2. 201018 Jun

    Both cars photographed · camera date

  3. 2013Aug

    Described in operation · University of Iowa

  4. 202424 Apr

    Road Trip Iowa clip published · PBS

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

✅ The facts

First run
25 July 1882, according to the operator Source Reported
Built for
J. K. Graves (named as architect by the NPS record); a former mayor and state senator, according to the operator Source Source Reported
First designer
John Bell, a local engineer, according to the operator Source Reported
Fires
1884 and 1893, according to the operator Source Reported
Cars
Two counterbalanced cars since the 1893 rebuild, according to the operator Source Reported
Length, rise
296 feet long, rising 189 feet Source Reported
National Register
Record dated 3 August 1978 Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 13 November 2026 · How we verify art

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