Dubuque, IA

Dubuque is a city located in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 57,584. It is the county seat of Dubuque County and has been since 1849. The city is home to Luther College and its athletic teams as well as several other colleges and universities.

The city's economy is based on agriculture (especially corn) and manufacturing (particularly medical equipment). It also has a significant service sector including health care, insurance, banking/finance, and publishing/media. The city's largest employers are Mercy Health System (with 11 hospitals), Abbott Laboratories (a pharmaceutical company), Kimberly-Clark Corporation (a paper products manufacturer), 3M Company (a multinational corporation), UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's Hospital (the largest hospital in Iowa), and Wells Fargo Bank National Association (the fifth largest bank in the United States).

Dubuque was first settled by European Americans in 1816 when it was founded as Fort Armstrong by General James Shields. The name " Dubuque" comes from an Ioway word meaning "big river". In 1819, Fort Armstrong became the territorial capital of Iowa Territory; it remained so until 1838 when Cedar Rapids became the territorial capital. Dubuque served as Iowa Territory's primary port on the Mississippi River until 1870 when it lost that role to Davenport due to its location upstream from Davenport on a more southerly bend in the river.

In 1849, Dubuque became Iowa's permanent state capital after being chosen over Cedar Rapids because of its central location within the state and its ability to provide adequate facilities for both government functions and public gatherings such as political conventions which were often held in large cities such as Des Moines or Waterloo but not smaller towns like Dubuque which lacked sufficient accommodations for such events.

In January 2007, Forbes magazine ranked Dubuque fourth among U.S. cities with populations greater than 50,000 for economic vitality based on factors including job growth rates, average wages per capita, percentage of residents with college degrees or higher levels of education attainment, number of business startups per 1 million residents and number of patents filed per 1 million residents .

On July 12th 2017 President Donald J Trump announced his intent to nominate Dr David Shulkin to be Secretary Of Veterans Affairs replacing former Secretary Robert Wilkie who resigned effective immediately after reports surfaced that he had improperly accepted tickets to see a Broadway show at taxpayers expense . On November 17th 2017 Dr David Shulkin was confirmed by The U S Senate with only one no vote cast