Galena Historic District
No admission feeWalk a river town of brick storefronts, hillside streets and 1800s homes that once outgrew Chicago in the lead-mining boom.

Photo: Joseph Gage from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
Galena's earliest surviving house, a limestone building from 1826 that now hosts guided history tours.
220 Diagonal Street, Galena, Illinois, 61036 · Galena, IL
The Dowling House is a limestone building in Galena, Illinois, said to be the town's oldest house. Its builder, John Dowling, finished it in 1826, and it once served as a trading post where fur traders stayed. Guides walk visitors through the development of Galena and the house while they view early nineteenth-century objects. Visitors can ask about a discount when buying combined tickets with the Belvedere Mansion.
The closest stops to Dowling House, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
Walk a river town of brick storefronts, hillside streets and 1800s homes that once outgrew Chicago in the lead-mining boom.
0.2 mi awayMore like this
Galena house linked to Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th U.S. president, run as a state historic site.
0.4 mi awayMore like this
Hike wooded trails above a limestone canyon cut by the Apple River in the unglaciated hills of Illinois' northwest corner.
19 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors
Hike 15 miles of bluff trails to overlooks high above the Mississippi, climb rock towers like Twin Sisters and Indian Head, and camp under the cliffs.
23 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors
Local history museum run by the Cedarville Area Historical Society, in a town noted as Jane Addams's birthplace.
40 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
The official Illinois convention and visitors bureau promoting Carroll, Lee, Ogle and Whiteside counties in northwest Illinois.
53 mi awayMore like this