Galena and U.S. Grant History Museum Opens New Building on November 12 in Illinois: 8,500 Square Feet, $6.5 Million, More Than 14,000 Artifacts
The Galena and U.S. Grant History Museum in Galena, Illinois, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and community open house on November 12, opening its new building to the public for the first time. The open house ran from 2 to 6 p.m. The museum announced the event on October 29 and held a private preview the night before for board members, staff, volunteers and supporters.
The new museum is an 8,500-square-foot, $6.5 million building at 517 Bouthillier Street, next to the historic Nelson Stillman House and near the Ulysses S. Grant Home. The facility is fully accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a change from the museum's longtime home in the 1858 Barrows House at 211 South Bench Street.
The move brings more than 14,000 historical artifacts into the new space, which has professional-grade interactive exhibits and a dedicated archival room. The collection covers Galena's lead-mining and steamboating past, the Civil War, and Ulysses S. Grant, the city's most famous resident, and includes the paintings "Peace in Union" and "General Grant on the Battlefield" and a flag from the Siege of Vicksburg.
The Foundation for Northwest Illinois invested $575,000 in May 2026, closing the final funding gap in the relocation project.
The Galena-Jo Daviess County Historical Society, which operates the museum, was founded in 1858, the same year as the Barrows House it is leaving. The new building is open seven days a week, year-round.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：约1865年格兰特与珀金斯在加利纳经营的皮革店历史照片。Public domain，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: file photo. Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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