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15 facts about Galena, IL

Since my friends and I go to Galena, IL (nearly) every year (and head there today), I decided to look up some facts about it (most directly from the Wiki page "Galena, Illinois")! 

  1. Apparently, the reason it has fabulous hills, valleys, bluffs, and exposed rock is because it wasn't covered in glaciers ages ago
  2. It's named for galena (the natural form of lead sulfide) which was also mined by indigenous peoples to use in burial rituals
  3. Before a large rush for mining galena, Galena's population was ~200
  4. Then, in roughly 1828, Galena had a similar population to Chicago (~10,000) due to said rush
  5. But also in 1828, there was a huge flood which allowed steamboats to go down Galena's streets
  6. Elihu Benjamin Washburne, who was a prominent Galena lawyer, later served in Congress during the Civil War, and then as Secretary of State and Minister to France for Ulysses S. Grant when he was president
  7. The DeSoto House Hotel in Galena's downtown is the oldest operating hotel in Illinois (it opened in 1855)
  8. Grant moved to Galena with his wife and children in 1860 to work in the family's leather goods business
  9. Including Grant, Galena was home to a total of 9 Civil War generals
  10. Grant was gifted by the residents of Galena after the Civil War
  11. Donald William Kerst (who was a physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project) was born there
  12. Adlai Stevenson II had a farm outside of Galena
  13. In the 2020 census, the median age of residents was 50
  14. Galena's Main Street has been chosen as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places by the American Institute of Architects Illinois component
  15. It's turning 200 this year!

(Prompt by me)

Photo by Kasey T on Unsplash


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