Dubuque is an unincorporated community in Barton

Barton County, Kansas

Barton County is a county located in Western Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 27,674. Its county seat and most populous city is Great Bend. The county is named in honor of Clara Barton, responsible for the founding of the American Red Cross...

 and Russell Counties

Russell County, Kansas

Russell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 6,970 for the 2010 census...

 in the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 state of Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

.

History

Polish

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

 immigrants from Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

, and Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

 first settled the area after the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. They were soon followed by Volga Germans from Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, Wisconsin, and Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....

. A rural post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

 named Dubuque opened in 1879, and the village was formally established in 1887. Devout Catholics, the local townsfolk built their first church in the early 1870s. They replaced it in 1901 with St. Catherine Catholic Church which still stands. The post office closed in 1909. By the 1920s, Dubuque had begun to lose its population and its business community. Today, all that remains are the church and a cemetery.

Geography

Dubuque is located at 38°41′45"N 98°36′32"W (38.6958442, -98.6089626) at an elevation of 1,883 feet (574 m). It lies 7 miles (11 km) south of the Smoky Hill River

Smoky Hill River

The Smoky Hill River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, running through the U.S. states of Colorado and Kansas.-Names:The Smoky Hill gets its name from the Smoky Hills region of north-central Kansas through which it flows...

 in the Smoky Hills

Smoky Hills

The Smoky Hills are an upland region of hills in the central Great Plains of North America. They are located in the central United States, encompassing north-central Kansas and a small portion of south-central Nebraska. The hills are a dissected plain covered by tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie...

 region of the Great Plains

Great Plains

The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...

. Located on the Barton County

Barton County, Kansas

Barton County is a county located in Western Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 27,674. Its county seat and most populous city is Great Bend. The county is named in honor of Clara Barton, responsible for the founding of the American Red Cross...

-Russell County

Russell County, Kansas

Russell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 6,970 for the 2010 census...

 line, Dubuque is roughly 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Russell

Russell, Kansas

Russell is the most populous city in and county seat of Russell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,506.-History:...

 and 24 miles (39 km) north-northeast of Great Bend

Great Bend, Kansas

Great Bend, named for its location at the historic big bend of the Arkansas River, is the most populous city in and the county seat of Barton County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 15,995.-History:...

. It is approximately 11 miles (18 km) south of Interstate 70

Interstate 70

Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a Park and Ride near Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Interstate Highway project in the United States. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the Rocky...

 and 13 miles (21 km) east of U.S. Route 281

U.S. Route 281

U.S. Route 281 is a north–south United States highway. At 1,872 miles long it is the longest continuous three-digit U.S. Route....

.