U. S. Grant in Galena, Illinois

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Today, we planned to visit historic Galena, Illinois, the home of the 18th President of the USA and Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant.  Sometimes our road trips are entertaining, sometimes they are educational, and sometimes they are just plain fun.  This trip was a little of all of the above.

We left our campground in Rockford, Illinois and headed our car west on US Highway 20 all the way to Galena.  It's about an hour and forty minutes from our campground.  The sun was shining brightly with a few puffy white clouds and the temperature barely reaches 80 degrees, a perfect day for a road trip.

Galena is located in the northwest corner of Illinois, only 3 miles via the Galena River from the Mississippi River.  As we headed west, we could see a definite change in the landscape.  The hills were getting a little higher and some of the views were amazing.

Just a few miles from Galena, we stopped and took a few shots of the landscape.

 With all of the hills, people that live in this area must be wondering why Illinois is sometimes called "The Prairie State"!

Our first stop in Galena was at the tourist information center where a very knowledgeable and helpful lady gave us all the information we needed regarding the points of interest in Galena.

Downtown is full of interesting shops and restaurants.  Naturally, we headed for one of the fine restaurants first, and enjoyed a tasty lunch at the Embe.  Lunch was great and the bread pudding was one of the best I have ever eaten. Their homemade bread pudding is free on Wednesday and that made it even better!

Here's what part of the downtown area looks like.

 After lunch, we crossed the street and went into the Desoto House Hotel where we saw a video about the history of Galena.  The Desoto House was built in 1855 and has been the cornerstone for the development of this city.  It originally was a five story hotel with over two hundred rooms.  It has been completely rebuilt and has fewer room, a few small stores, and three restaurants.

Our next stop was at this museum.  This building was built in 1858.  It has a hologram of Grant and his wife describing what you will find in this museum.  In addition to some Grant artifacts and civil war items, you can peer down into an authentic 1830's lead mine shaft.

 The next three pictures are some of the items in the museum.

  

This flag was home made in Galena and was given to the civil war troops from Galena.  Because the flag was not made in accordance with the US Government specifications, it was never flown in battle and was later returned to the city of Galena.  

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Ulysses S. Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, on April 27, 1822.  In 1868, he was elected 18th President of the United States.  He died on July 23, 1885 at Mt. McGregor, NY.

A life size photo of Ulysses S. Grant

 This famous painting depicts the surrender of Robert E. Lee's army to U.S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9th, 1865.  There were fourteen people in the room for this historic moment that officially ended the civil war, and three of them were from Galena.  In fact, during the civil war, nine men from Galena rose to the rank of General.  No other city in the USA had more men rise to the rank of General per capita, than Galena.

This is Grant's last home in Galena.  This home was built in 1860 for the town clerk.  In 1865, a group of prominent Republican men purchased this house and gave it to US Grant & family, completely furnished,.

 This is the Belvedere Mansion, the largest home in Galena.  It is 5,000 square feet and has 22 rooms!  We saw several homes in Galena that were much larger than Grant's home.  While he was famous, he did not obtain great wealth.

As we departed Galena, we drove a few miles to the Mississippi River and took this picture.

It was a nice trip and we always enjoy living history.  Now we can cross this off our list and start planning the next road trip.