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Thank goodness for fire. Thanks to a fire that long ago destroyed the wood framed downtown of Galena, the city council ruled that all structures henceforth must be made of brick and stone. As a result, we modern-day shoppers are blessed with a plethora of boutiques inside 100 year old masonry mercantile stores. Ulysses S. Grant, the famous American Civil War general and subsequent U.S. President, lived in Galena for several years working as an assistant in his father's leather shop. Today the Grant home is a popular tourist attraction. The city is named for the mineral galena, the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. The ore in Galena was mined by Native American Indians who used it as body painting. EARNS OUR HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.