The Hamburg Historic District, also known as the Gold Coast, is a residential neighborhood located on a bluff northwest of downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States.

For this reason, it became a prime location for the middle and upper-income Germans who immigrated to Davenport to build their homes.

The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad tracks built along Fifth Street are yet another boundary for the area.

It would eventually dominate Davenport politics and set the city apart from communities of similar size in the Midwest.

[3] Davenport's small Hungarian community, refugees from the revolution against Austria in the 1840s, generally lived in the German neighborhoods, as well.

[7] Initially, the native-born citizens of Davenport resented the large numbers of Germans coming to the city and the influence they were asserting.

[8] Because of the size of Davenport's German population, their customs dominated the city's economic, cultural, and political life.

German influence in Davenport started to wane in the early decades of the 20th century, especially with the onset of World War I.

All of the above-named men had roots in Schleswig-Holstein, they built significant houses in the Hamburg District, and many of their children married a son or daughter from one of the other's families.

[9] The geographical location of the Hamburg District is a fairly steep bluff north of the downtown area.

The historic district is rounded out by smaller and more simple late 19th and early 20th century homes and a few modern dwellings.

Many civic, cultural, religious, and commercial buildings that served the German citizens of the city were not built in the Hamburg District.

[5] A vernacular house type named for Thomas McClelland, a prolific builder/contractor in Davenport, who built a significant number of them.