National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium

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National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium
350 East Third Street • Port of Dubuque, Iowa 52001

(800) 226-3369

About Us

DCHS History

The Dubuque County Historical Society (DCHS) has its roots in the Richard Herrmann Museum of Natural History, established in the 1870s. The DCHS was formed in 1950 as a private, non-profit organization with a focus on oral and archival history; and it opened its first museum, the Mathias Ham House, in 1964. Over the past 25 years the DCHS has successfully raised $54 million to organize and expand its Mississippi River Museum into the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium. The Museum & Aquarium is accredited by the American Association of Museums — a distinction held by only 9 percent of American museums — and was named an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution in August 2002.

The new river campus houses the William Woodward Discovery Center, the National Rivers Hall of Fame, the Fred W. Woodward Riverboat Museum, the Pfohl Boatyard, a wetland, and a refurbished train depot