Landmark Dubuque Bar a Total Loss in $190K Blaze

For decades, drivers heading south out of Dubuque on Highway 61, including myself, drove by it daily. We all know the brown building with bright orange doors and frames. Yes, their the Airline Inn sits quietly, just off the road, doing what roadside taverns across the Midwest have always done: serve cold drinks, a warm meal, and provide a place to stay awhile. It wasn’t flashy, and it didn’t try to be. It was simply there, part of the Dubuque and it's history. That changed on this afternoon, January 22nd, 2026.

Shortly before 3 PM, emergency crews from the Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office, along with fire departments from Key West, Dubuque, and East Dubuque, were called to the Airline Inn at 10784 Highway 61 for a structure fire. When responders arrived, the tavern was already fully engulfed in flames. Despite their efforts, the building was declared a total loss, with damages estimated at $190,000. Thankfully, no injuries were reported. According to the release from Sheriff Joseph L. Kennedy, the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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The inn was tied closely to the nearby Air Line Motel, a longtime fixture along Highway 61 that dates back generations. Together, they reflected a time when highways brought people through town instead of past it, and when roadside businesses were built to welcome anyone who needed a place to rest and a bite to eat. Most of my internet sleuthing showed the Airline Motel in the 1951 and 1955 Dubuque City Directory in Key West, the tavern itself came to be over 10 years later, in 1968. Additionally, the Airline Inn was even in that baseball classic, Field of Dreams, as a travel location during filming.

Fires like this don’t just take the building. They take someones livlihood, a piece of routine, and a well-known landmark with a shared history. In communities like Dubuque, those losses are felt a little deeper.