All the great old river towns

As we wind our way down the grand old river, we wander through great old towns that we instinctively know by name, even though we have never been there. Marquette, Muscatine, Burlington, Keokuk – I don’t know why I know all these names, but I do.

In Dubuque, we rode the Fourth Street Elevator. This pair of cable driven rail cars was built in 1882 to bring folk from Main Street on the river flats to the Fenlon neighborhood built up on the bluffs. Originally operated by steam engine, it was built by JK Graves for his own personal convenience, and later sold to the residents of the neighborhood who established a community organization and Board. Today it is part of the city’s public transit system.

At the Great Mississippi River Museum we got to tour the historic William Black. The Black is a rear paddle wheeler steam ship built in 1934 to continuously dredge the main channel of the Mississippi to keep it open for commercial traffic. Interestingly, it was so well built and so well designed for its intended purpose that it continued to be operated right up until 1973 when it was put out of commission by OPEC.

Essentially, everything about the ship worked well except that its steam engines were extremely inefficient. When oil prices were dirt cheap, there was no reason not to use it as it performed so well. But when OPEC was formed and set the new price for crude oil, it became impossible to make any money running the William Black, so it was decommissioned, and is now part of the Museum, and is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

We visited the Dowling House in Galena, the oldest home in Illinois. Built by John Dowling in 1826, the structure was part home, part trading post – the home being upstairs and the trading post down.

Galena is an interesting town in that most of its 1800’s era buildings are still intact and most still in use. That isn’t because of unique insight on the part of the community. At one time, Galena was far bigger than Chicago, located at a vortex of commerce. The Galena River fed into the Mississippi and provided a perfect protected docking area for as many as 15 riverboats. Galena basically took control of commercial transportation for the entire area. Also, named Galena (also the natural name for Lead Sulfide) because of the rich deposits of lead in the area, the town became the site of the first of the many mining rushes, and flourished with many of its residents becoming quite rich.

However, it all came to a very abrupt end. Trains replaced the river for most commercial trade, and Galena was not a good location to run track, so it was bypassed. The lead mills in town filled the Galena River with tailings, and eventually what river traffic there still was could not get into town any longer. Also, the lead deposits played out. All this happened in a short time, One example is the grand old Desoto House Hotel opened for business in 1855. From this balcony, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech on July 23, 1856, Stephen Douglas on July 25, 1858, and Ulysses S. Grant used rooms 209 and 211 as his campaign headquarters during his presidential bid.
and people abandoned the town. Population declined by 90%. The town was so poor that it could not even afford to demolish old buildings and put up new ones as most other towns did. So, in the 1960’s when tourism started to build along the river, the buildings were all still there and just needed to be refurbished. Now, nearly 95% of the buildings in the entire downtown of Galena are on the National Register.
We also visited the Belvedere Mansion. Built in 1857 by J. Russell Jones, it is one of the best examples of how the wealthy lived during the heyday of Galena. Jones was a successful businessman and eventually ended up doing a stint as a US Marshall, as well as serving a term in Congress. While many of the furnishings are from the period, few are original to the home. But we ended up having a special connection to this place. The owners had traveled to Vegas often, and had purchased a number of items when the Liberace Museum sold off its collection. So, we actually got a hint of old Vegas throughout this fabulous Victorian home.

We saved the best for last in Galena. Ulysses S. Grant grew up in Galena. Galena was his home from the time after he had graduated from West Point until he served as General in the Civil War was in Galena. After West Point, his father’s ailing health meant that his brothers Simpson and Orville would have to manage the family’s general store on their own. Ulysses agreed to take his father’s place and help his brothers manage the family business.

Designed by William Dennison, the home was constructed in 1859 for a City Clerk, Thomas B. Hughlett.  After the war and Grant’s election to the presidency, a group of local Republicans purchased the home for $2,500 and presented it to Grant so that he could live in his home city. While Grant did

not live in the home for very long, he fondly remembered the times he spent there and vowed to the locals that he “would always cast his vote there!”

The majority of the furnishings and items in the home were actually owned by Grant and used in the home while he lived there. His favorite chair, his desk, and even his bath tub are part of the collection of original artifacts resting here in Galena. It was great fun walking through the home where the famous President and Civil War General actually walked, much less sat and smoked a cigar.

 

Talk to you soon!