Topping out at 252 steps, the Washington Street Steps is Galena’s tallest stairway. It is also the same stairway that Ulysses S. Grant climbed (in its prior wooden form) to get from his family’s leather business in the heart of Galena up to his home at the top of the bluff high above downtown Galena.
During the 1840s and 1850s, Galena in the far northwest corner of Illinois was a prosperous lead mining center and the commercial hub for the upper Midwest. When the mines played out and its river port silted up, Galena declined in importance and became a much smaller community. With its smaller role, there was no pressure to tear down buildings and replace them with larger and more modern structures. As a result, Galena has the finest collection of 1840s and 1850s architecture in the country. And it is because of its unique architecture and gorgeous setting that Galena has become a popular visitor destination.
Galena’s Washington Street steps are in the distance.
