Facts about Galena, Illinois. Galena is in the northwest corner of Illinois close to the borders of Iowa and Wisconsin. Galena is in the northwest corner of Illinois close to the borders of Iowa and Wisconsin....
Galena is in the northwest corner of Illinois close to the borders of Iowa and Wisconsin. The terrain is made up of beautiful rolling hills with wonderful vistas; it's what is described as an unglaciated area. We are located in JoDaviess County at 42 degrees latitude.
Galena has lots of great history. It was at one time the home of General Ulysses Grant. We have lots of great architecture because the community was a booming port for steamships headed up the Mississippi River. We are only 3.38 miles from the Mississippi River. It was also a very significant lead mining region and at one time the community was larger than the city of Chicago. Currently we have about 35,000 residents, but above 1.3 million visitors each year.
