Galena, Illinois City Guide
For over 20 years, Pamela Lanier's Galena, Illinois Travel Guide has been your connection to Galena's tourism community with invaluable details on local attractions, restaurants, shopping, museums, history, outdoor recreation and more.
Historic Galena
 If you’d like to learn more about the history of Galena and Jo Daviess County, The Galena Historical Society is the place to start. The Society offers walking tours of Galena’s Main Street, taking you past historic sites, sharing stories from the past, and even showing participants locations from the movie "Field of Dreams". Tour historic Galena homes during a special weekend event, walk through historic gardens and enjoy the variety of styles found about town, or attend the Mistletoe Ball and experience a Victorian dinner and dance. The Museum is housed in an 1858 Italianate mansion and exhibits local Civil War history, costumes and textiles, and lead mining and steamboating tools. Your Galena bed and breakfast may be housed in a historic building, have interesting stories in its past, or even have played an important role in history. Even if you're staying at a more modern bed and breakfast, the town of Galena has an interesting past, just waiting for you to explore.
The Galena Public Library and Reading Room was established in 1894 and opened in 1895, first occupying the second floor of the post office. In 1906 a new library was built, and today houses the Alfred Mueller Historical Collections Room dedicated to Galena town history. Visit the library to peruse the local history and genealogy and take a photograph on the steps outside leading to the historic building. |
