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Plan a Road Trip > Explore America > Illinois > Galena |
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Time Zone
Central
Latitude/Longitude
42.41° /-90.38°
Today's Forecast
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HIGH: 61
LOW: 47
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The Galena River silted up so much that riverboats could no longer travel from the Mississippi to this early lead-mining city. The wealth that once graced Galena, however, gifted the town with some of the finest antebellum mansions in the Midwest. Old Market House (1845) still contains stalls along both sides. The leather store where Ulysses S. Grant clerked is at 211 South Main Street. When he returned victorious from the Civil War, townspeople built a house on Bouthillier Street for him. Filled with mementos of Grant's Civil War and presidential years, this home, Old Market House, and the square are now state historic sites.
A visitor center is located at the Old Galena Depot. Galena-Jo Daviess County History Museum has Civil War memorabilia, Indian arrowheads, and mining artifacts in a 19th-century mansion. The Old Stockade Refuge was used during the 1832 Black Hawk War, and includes an underground refuge dug into solid rock. Tour Vinegar Hill Historic Lead Mine & Museum in summer. Galena boasts many bed-and-breakfast inns, restaurants, antique shops, and the popular Galena Cellars Winery.
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