Workingmen's Houses, James P. Strain House, 821 Dodge Street, Dubuque, Dubuque County, IA

Significance: "Probably the most extensive [residential] building has taken place in the lower end of the city, in the vicinity of South Dodge Street and Seipple's lumber yards," the "Dubuque Telegraph-Herald" reported in 1914. "This for a good many years has been covered with old lumber and used as a dumping ground. Now the site has been cleared of debris and handsome homes have sprung up, through the efforts of C.A. Voelker and other builders." Built that year, the James Strain House is one of the most recent of the workingmen's houses constructed along lower Dodge Street. Its pedimented gables, somewhat more complex roof profile and corner entrance distinguish the building as a later, more sophisticated manifestation of the front gabled boxes built on the street, between 1870 and 1920. The house's speculative origin is reflected in its patternbook configuration and detailing.
Survey number: HABS IA-159-BE
Building/structure dates: 1914 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1957 Subsequent Work