December 27th saw us celebrate the beginning of our Bicentennial year with a mayoral proclamation and toast!
Barney Norris
There are different accounts in regards to the birth of Galena’s remarkable citizen, Barney Norris.
Posthumously
Ely Samuel Parker, only man to hold the ranks of Sachem and US General, was posthumously admitted to the New York Bar, 130 years after his death and 160 years after he penned one of the most important legal documents in US history.
Galena in 1860
Imagine living in Galena in 1860.
Kenesaw Mountain Landis
April 27, 1918, was Ulysses S Grant’s 96th birthday. Kenesaw Mountain Landis delivered a speech for the occasion
Rowena Bastin Bennett
There have been many wonderfully eccentric creatives in Galena through the years, one of them being the children’s author, poet, and lecturer Rowena Bastin Bennett.
Waanik Suuc
Waanįk Šuuc, known to us as “Red Bird,” was a Ho Chunk leader who resisted the white incursion into Wisconsin. He was eventually surrounded and surrendered, expecting to be honorably executed. Instead he died imprisoned at Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin, in 1828.
Airship
At the Galena Fair in 1911, the big attraction was an “airship,” a bi-plane piloted by Harry Powers.
Ulysses S Grant
Ulysses S. Grant came to Galena in April of 1860 aboard the steamboat Itasca. There was no fanfare when he arrived, although he quickly became a local celebrity…
Beth Baranski
After moving to Galena in 1989, Beth worked with others on community projects, completing the City’s Historic Preservation Guidebook, and preparing a report on Historic Lighting for downtown Galena. Beth served as Development Director for the City of Galena from 1991 to 1993.