829 North 5th Street
Burlington, IA, USA

Augustus Caesar Dodge House

The Augustus Caesar Dodge House is a historic building located in Burlington, Iowa, United States. Augustus C. Dodge came to Burlington as Registrar of the Land Office, a political appointment of President Martin Van Buren. As a Democrat, he went on to serve as the Iowa Territory's Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives (1840-1846), one of Iowa's first two U.S. Senators (1848-1854), Minister to Spain under Presidents Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan (1855-1859), and then Mayor of Burlington (1874-1875). The two-story, brick house follows an L-shaped plan and was built sometime around in the mid-to-late 1860s. It is representative of Burlington's mid-19th century architecture. The house is not clearly defined by any particular architectural style, but the bracketed eaves allow it to be classified as a vernacular form of the Italianate style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

National Register of Historic Places - Augustus Caesar Dodge House

Statement of Significance:

This building helps focus attention on the important role that Burlington and its citizens played in early Iowa politics and government through its association with Augustus C. Dodge. Dodge was the acknowledged leader of the Democratic party which dominated Iowa politics prior to the Civil War. He was also a vocal exponent of Iowa interests at the national level during the territorial and early statehood years.

A.C. Dodge came to Burlington in 1838 as a political appointee of President Van Buren to the post of Registrar of the Land Office in that city. Holding such a job as this in the capital of the territory ensured that Dodge would become well known. This local fame contributed to his election as territorial delegate to Congress in 1840. Dodge served in this post until 1846 carrying the views of the Territory on such issues as boundaries, statehood, internal improvements, and Indian treaties to Congress. Dodge was recognized as the foremost man of the Democratic party in Iowa by 1846 when Iowa became a state. (Sage, — History of Iowa, p.88).

From 1848 to 1855 Dodge remained in the national political sphere as U.S. Senator from Iowa. ~ As a states-rights, anti-abolitionist Dodge represented the attitudes of his constituents. Other issues he involved himself with included homestead legislation, railroad land grants, and Mississippi River improvements.

By 1855 a Whig majority prevailed in Iowa government and Dodge's bid for re-election was not supported by the Iowa Senate. For the next four years, Dodge served as the U.S. Minister to Spain. These years proved frustrating to Dodge as negotiations to purchase Cuba proved fruitless. Dodge resigned his post in 1859 and returned to Iowa just in time to represent the Democratic party in the gubernatorial election of that year. Dodge was vulnerable on his slavery position, and as a result, the growing anti-slavery sentiment of Iowa voters favored the Republican candidate. After this defeat, Dodge retreated from state level politics during the war years and afterwards.

Dodge retired to Burlington at this time, though he had kept a residence in that city for some years. Except for a term as Burlington mayor in 1874-75, Dodge's political activity remained confined to a non-elective role as a speaker.

As one of Dodge's biographers put it, Dodge's career "represented and reflected the life of a western frontier community which without historic traditions or settled political formula had a free and natural growth." C. Dodge, p. x, in Preface).

Architecturally, the house is a well-kept representative of Burlington's mid-19th century architecture. It is not a pure style but can be classified generally as vernacular Italianate. The form is very traditional, and the house may be termed "Italianate" simply due to the bracketed eaves.