Galena is located in the northwest corner of Illinois about 150 miles west of O’Hare airport in Chicago. It is a pleasant drive from the prairies near Chicago, into the gently rolling hills of Joe Daviess County. The second part of the drive is not interstate. Galena is a small town, with less than 10,000 residents, so it does not have a lot of large chain motels. They are located in Dubuque which is a much larger city, 25 minutes further west over the Mississippi river. There is a boutique hotel called the Irish Cottage on the road into town from Chicago. It has Irish themed architecture and a pub/restaurant on site. The town bills itself as an relaxing weekend destination and has lots of B&Bs in older homes. Art and craft fairs are held in the spring and fall.
The town had its best years before 1858; when the railroad arrived it disrupted the monopoly of the steamboat traffic to the area lead mining business and led to the economic demise of the river town. Much of the downtown dates from that era and is a very pleasant walking area. The river, with its large levees, is nothing like it was in the steamboat era due to silting from agriculture runoff. Ulysses Grant was it’s most illustrious citizen and his former house is open to visitors.
The local museum exhibits have limited mining interest and focus more on the Civil war. The Irish built Dowling House was the first structure built in Galena in the 1820s. St Michael’s Cemetery is full of the headstones of the Irish who came in the 19th century. Ten miles north of town is Vinegar Hill Township; the old cemetery is east of Hwy 84 on Furlong Rd and north on 3 Pines rd. At one time there was a large village, church and active lead mines in the area.
Dubuque, west of the Mississippi, has a shot tower, an old Cathedral that the Irish built (but it is closed other than regular mass times) and a miners monument. Just south of town is the New Mellary Monastery, founded by Cistercian months from Mt Mellary in Ireland in 1849.
The Dowling House
The Irish Cottage
Vinegar Hill Cemetery
Dubuque Shot Tower
