By the 1850s
Galena was the busiest port between St. Paul and St. Louis. In 1845
Galena shipped a record 54,494,850 pounds of lead.
Galena's political history includes
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas who both spoke from the balcony of the
DeSoto House Hotel.
Ulysses S. Grant came to Galena in 1860. Grant (who later
became a general and then the 18th president of the United States) soon left for
the Civil War. The home he occupied on High Street still stands today. After the
Civil War, a group of citizens presented Grant and his family a fine, fully
furnished home on Bouthillier Street as a token of gratitude. The Grant Home is
now a state historic site open to the public.
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In the early 1800s the Upper
Mississippi Lead Mine District was established, which paved the way
for the industry that gave birth to Galena. In 1826, Galena (a
technical term for sulfide of lead) was organized as a town. It soon
grew because prospectors received grants to occupy and mine lead on
lots in the area.
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