Illinois' cozy corner: connect with yesteryear in Galena, a well-preserved gem from the 19th century

Travel America, July-August, 2003 by Randy Mink

TUCKED IN THE HILLY NORTHWEST CORNER OF ILLINOIS, NOT far from the Mississippi River, little Galena is the state's third most popular tourist destination (after Chicago and Springfield). Clinging to hillsides above the lazy Galena River, the town of 3,500 has changed little since the mid-1800s, when it was a thriving river port and lead-mining center. After the Civil War, Galena went from boomtown to sleepy backwater, only to be rediscovered in the 1960s by nostalgia-minded tourists, artists, and weekend-home "fixer uppers" who recognized its architectural treasures.

Today Galena, "the town that time forgot," abounds with antique and gift shops, art galleries, restaurants, museums, and historic houses. Most of it is a National Register Historic District. To avoid crowds, schedule a weekday visit.

With more than 50 bed-and-breakfasts, guest houses, and country inns, the area claims to be the "B&B Capital of the Midwest." Lodgings range from lovingly stored downtown mansions to farmhouses in scenic Jo Daviess County, a kingdom of ridges, ravines, and rocky bluff's. Chestnut Mountain, a ski resort overlooking the Mississippi River, offers accommodations year-round.

The landmark DeSoto House Hotel, in the bustling heart of the Main Street shopping district, offers 55 graciously appointed Victorian guest rooms. For the next two years the historic hostelry is celebrating the sesquicentennial of its 1853 groundbreaking with special packages and events.

Built during Galena's heyday, when the town was the Mississippi Valley's largest port between St. Louis and St. Paul, the DeSoto was billed as the "largest hotel in the West;" now it claims to be the "oldest operating hotel in Illinois." Guests have included Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Abraham Lincoln spoke from its balcony in 1856.

Hometown boy Ulysses S. Grant, commander of Union forces during the Civil War, used the DeSoto as his campaign headquarters in his successful 1868 bid for the U.S. presidency. The Generals' Dining Room is named for Grant and Galena's eight other Civil War generals.

The town's most famous attraction is the Ulysses S. Grant Home, an Italianate brick house the town presented to Grant after his triumphant return from the war. Furnishings include china and silver from the Grant White House and other family possessions, but he spent little time in the home, returning to Galena only occasionally after becoming president.

Other tour homes include the 1857 Belvedere Mansion, the grand home of a steamboat magnate, and the 1826 Dowling House, Galena's oldest house. In June and September, special tours provide a peek into private homes of historic and architectural significance.

"Ladies Getaway" weekend (Sept. 13-15) is aimed at women wishing to spend quality time with a sister, grown daughter, or friend. Special events (many of them free) include tours and stage shows, prize drawings, gourmet cooking classes, and crafts classes and demonstrations. There's even a pajama party. Inns and B&Bs have created "Ladies Getaway" packages.

Saturday morning visitors have fun shopping for produce, plants, and baked goods at the Galena Farmers Market (through October 11) on Old Market House Square. The Old Market House, the center of community life during Galena's most prosperous era and now a state historic site, has an exhibit filled with items belonging to U.S. Grant and his family. including a buggy.

Also worth a visit is the Galena/Jo Daviess County Historical Society and Museum, housed in an 1858 mansion. Exhibits focus on lead mining, steamboating, the Civil War, and U.S. Grant. Catch the 15-minute audio-visual show on Galena's history.

Vinegar Hill Historic Lead Mine & Museum, six miles north of Galena, offers tours and exhibits that tell the story of the nation's first large mineral rush in the 1820s, two decades before the California Gold Rush. Galena, in fact, was once the lead-mining capital of the world. The countryside is still pockmarked by old diggings and beneath the surface are vast networks of abandoned mines.

Contact: Galena/Jo Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau, (866) 424-3224; www.galena.org.