Galena was a lead mining and commercial center 1800 – 1850, then declined, but the solid brick and stone buildings stood up over time, and were restored in the 1960s. The town is on the national historic register and has lots of old mansions, including the home of General / President Grant of civil war fame. Nine civil war generals came from here.
Now you can tour old buildings – I did Grant’s house and one other.
Or shop and eat till you drop on Main Street, which is the typical collection of trinkets and junk, art, antiques, clothing, restaurants and such, much as anywhere else, only way more of them.
Everywhere you go it’s pretty much the same stuff in these tourist places. This one happens to have a corner on the historic angle.
I enjoyed the house tours to see how rich people lived back in the day. Typically ostentatious and plush and managed only due to servants. No running water, no inside toilets, no central heat, no light and power, but they sure threw their money around to make a good impression.
And Main Street was a pleasant diversion of window shopping and people watching and eating on a bench in the shade. Nice park too. Kind of like Disney, with alcohol.
I can recommend Galena as a place to stop if you’re over 50 and your life is slowing down. 🙂
I like it here.
