East Dubuque, Illinois

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Downtown East Dubuque, along Sinsinawa Ave.

East Dubuque is a city in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,995 at the 2000 census. East Dubuque is located alongside the Mississippi River. Across the river is the city of Dubuque, Iowa. About three miles north of the city is the Illinois - Wisconsin border. East Dubuque was originally known as Dunleith.

The main roads in East Dubuque are Sinsinawa Avenue and U.S. Route 20 (Wall Street). The Julien Dubuque Bridge serves as the connection between East Dubuque and Dubuque. Illinois Route 35 serves as the primary connection between East Dubuque and Wisconsin.

The community is known for the number of bars located along Sinsinawa Ave. These establishments are quite popular during the weekend due to the fact that East Dubuque's mandatory closing time for bars - 3:30am - is later than that of Dubuque's. This does lead to problems with public intoxication, drunk driving, and related disturbances. Additional law enforcement is usually assigned to patrol that part of the city. The city has announced that it is making bars close earlier. In general the business community has opposed this as they claim that a large percentage of their revenue comes in after midnight.

At one time, the Silver Eagle Casino was located in East Dubuque. The casino eventually went bankrupt because of competition from riverboat and land based operations in Dubuque. The Silver Eagle's casino license was given to another operation. The city council is considering asking the state to allow for another casino operation to be located in East Dubuque. The Silver Eagle's dockside facilities were eventually purchased by a local man and turned into an events center for parties and meetings.

Because of the proximity of East Dubuque to the Mississippi river, the city has at times flooded, particularly in the low lying areas near the river.

[edit] Geography

East Dubuque is located at 42°29′28″N, 90°38′28″W (42.491103, -90.641214)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.5 km² (2.1 mi²). 5.3 km² (2.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (3.74%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,995 people, 864 households, and 527 families residing in the city. The population density was 373.9/km² (967.4/mi²). There were 932 housing units at an average density of 174.7/km² (451.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.10% White, 0.15% African American, 0.05% Native American, 0.20% Asian, 0.20% from other races, and 0.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.05% of the population.

There were 864 households out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.1% were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.9% were non-families. 34.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 105.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,099, and the median income for a family was $45,924. Males had a median income of $31,010 versus $19,459 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,984. About 2.1% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.3% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.