Full Episode: Galena, Illinois | Main Streets

This charming town in northwestern Illinois is named after a mineral that was mined 20 years before the California Gold Rush Galena Galena is the Latin word for lead sulfide in the mid-19th century Galena was one of the largest cities and influential people of the state of

illinois

why because it was the center of the mining district and that district produced 85 percent of the nation's lead, so it was a large booming mining community and in 1868 a population of 12,000 people when ulysses s Grant moved here yes, that Ulysses s Grant who was a general and then president of the United States.

Needless to say, Grant and the Mines are no more, but take a look at these buildings because these buildings were standing when Grant of the Mines was still here, so Galena is in the northwest corner of Illinois. It is just a few miles from the Wisconsin border and a few miles from Mississippi on the Iowa border. Its current population is 3,500 and all I can say is that those 3,500 people are very lucky to call this place home . There are 125 stores on Galena Main Street, so if you spent a day here, say a 12-hour day, you could spend six minutes in each store.

My advice, spend a weekend. I'm working on Galena Canning. What are we going to can today? Today we are going to make one of our summer favorites is strawberry sauce. Is there any secret here that you want to talk about? There are some seasonings we could put in there and you know you're not going to talk. I do not think I'll go. to be able to talk, they were so nice before, all you have to do is just pour them in there and then turn them to look, oh, then you pass them to sergio, yeah, and I'll just pop a lid on him and you We finished around 1993, I met a big burly chef called Chef Evo, he was larger than life, so here's a guy who was a master chef, but his grandmother, who was from Estonia, had these wonderful cookbooks, so He took his talent, he took his recipes and he put those things together and it became magic, you've always been the one who still poured all the jars.

We tried to calculate it at one point and I mean, it was over a million jars that he hand poured into. Like the more than 20 years he's been doing this and the idea of ​​a million jars coming out of this operation and ending up in someone's house, yeah, it's kind of mind-blowing, yeah, it's nice, where do they end up? Do they go through the world? both stores here will sell them, we also sell on our website and then we also sell wholesale, so they travel quite far, so this is the first store that opened how many years ago, in 1993, and then the one on the other street side, which is incredibly impressive, opened up well, that was about five or six years later.

Thank you so much. Choose the one you just made. Let's try this one. I'll tell you what it could be. Do you know what it is? I know exactly what it is. It's blueberry nearby cherry number one cherries number two another berry is raspberry right okay, well why are you so cocky? is that strawberry pineapple salsa this is what I made across the street now we'll try this is that a kick here salsa is that I mean it's from the southwest so it's got a little bit of heat to it it's good and not so much.

I need to bake French fries. I'm looking at a poster with your face on it. Yes, you are and there is a side on the back that says magic yes and that is your theater, which is my theater. Magic is best experienced live and in person and when everyone is involved it is really fun. It's great. Can you describe your magic? It is a salon style. It happens in a small room and the magic is. close and it's in person you have to show us something I'm getting nervous don't be nervous yet john you're going to try to make contact with the spirit world focus your energy on the key john oh that was fast you You're okay, ah, perfect, right on the blood stain, duplicate it so you don't drop any when you get scared, focus, John, I'm your energy while they try to make contact with you.

Now magic isn't about brightly colored boxes and scantily clad dancers. that's what branson missouri is for magic is about pausing to appreciate the mysteries of everyday life this is one of the smallest mysteries of magic performed up close and before your very eyes john can i make a mystical finger movement well done? I've done that before haven't we, let's talk about it John, job well done, magic, it's amazing, it was great, it happens

galena

95 96 90 197, but going down is not the problem, I know there are probably about a thousand going up . you probably don't know this this is the oldest um house in the state of

illinois

this is ted this is robin they are the owners and operators of the

galena

haunted tour company you got it the ghosts of galena are still here because even after the death I never want to leave, it is also his home.

Some come on the tour and say okay, just so you know, I don't think so, oh yeah, almost on almost every tour, this is the old market house. There was a woman named Marianne Miller who had some. because of a drinking problem, so they took her to the basement of the old market house, put her in jail and unfortunately that night the rain came, she had fainted and fell off her cot in the jail cell and he drowned Marian Miller's spirit is still growing. Oh. Yes, and she's not happy with the way she died. So we won't go in today.

No, we will listen to you, but this is what you can do. We're not going to go down and play after the sun goes down. all kinds of really fun stuff oh for the last 160 years the hotel has been haunted by an apparition known as the lady in black the lady in black manifests in the bar here and then walks through it and disappears into this solid wall why would do? the solid wall in 2011 we got the answer: we had a 21 inch storm in four hours and where you are standing was under six feet of water when they removed the lathe board and plaster from this wall, lo and behold, it was not a solid wall. brick wall was a door that was discovered underneath that had been covered at some point in the story the lady in black was not walking through a solid wall at all she was walking through a door that was there at the time she was alive oh look she's dressed in black that's a very good photo of her she looks very happy in the mid 19th century this river the galena river was over 200 feet wide and had a not so charming name you know that?

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The same thing you have to see in Greendale in the 17th century. The French fur traders came down this river and all they saw on either side of the banks were bees, so they called it the Bean River and in French it is the Albede River. Well, leave it to the The British and the Yankees turned the fairies into a fever and called it the Fever River, which I don't think was too cool because it conjured up images of mosquitoes and malaria, so in 1854 they changed the name to the Galena River, much better. two things in galena that you are looking for the first are ghosts the second is Grant we didn't find ghosts look what we found general Grant good to see you your wife julia yes pleasure man how are you yes how should I call you general general today Yes, someone passed by and said hello general, yes , and that's how they generally refer to you.

Can I call you Bob and Pat for a minute? Sure, okay, thanks everyone, so they do tours and on their grant-based Galena tours. Yeah, yeah, and I'm talking about the riverboats blowing up the fires in Galena, the floods in Galena, yeah, well, around 1880, Galena became a quiet little river town. I have a 40-minute program that I give sometimes as president, yes, and then sometimes also as general, so yes, everyone. It all depends on what you would like to see on stage. Can't have your own 40 minutes? No, no, no, no, I bet you want to, damn rocker, you look great, thanks, I really see you wandering around.

The street is quite a spectacle, well, I think it really is, thank you, yes, you look like him. Do you look like Julia? I doubt it. I want to spend some time with her. So what does a guy have to do to get a city to build him? and give him a home, how about being a war hero, a general, a president, okay, give him the house, you know, I love a museum and in this museum today in Galena this is what we're going to talk about sulfur of lead, which is um galena means lead sulfide yes, it does in Latin in Latin lead actually in this community started in 1690 and in the 1820s galena became the nation's first minimum fever, so you think, oh, the gold rush, the gold, but the lead was also very valuable, it is also light. you can put it in anything it's a very strong metal and this is the only open lead mine in Illinois actually real lead is the real entrance to a lead mine so what you're going to see is we have a person down there, yes and so you can see all the way down, that's amazing, and this is original from the 1830s, yes, amazing, that's cool and we're not going down there, no, not today, maybe next time we can't come to Galena to the museum and not talk about Grant, look at it, this is great, yes there is a lot of information about Grant, but there is also a lot of information about eight other Galena generals.

It's very unique that we have so many just from this small town and really. It was Washburn who was a congressman who lived in Galena. Washburn was actually a friend of President Lincoln and encouraged him to promote all of these different individuals to the general role, so Grant ended up becoming a general in the war because of Washburn because of Washington. It's like that, look at his look, although he says: why are you taking a photo of me? Well I'm not even on

main

street but this city needs to visit Dubuque and maybe get a fennel lift that's all I'm saying just look.

Well, isn't it interesting to have someone else by the name of John McGivern in this blacksmith shop? Don't look at what they did to me. Okay, we're in a 124-year-old store and the store itself is operated by the Galena History Museum, but all of our revenue is generated here, lean it on the edge and roll it up just a little. This building began life before the 20th century at a time when blacksmiths were the repair shop of their time. Now come on, keep it nice, flat and lit. the plane very good john after the second world war many shops like this were lost that's what you mean oh great so this is still working although the 10 or 12 blacksmiths that make up the blacksmithing core know that we are working to

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tain this 124 old man the store goes slow and easy, go, go, go, he will fix it, people come and say, can I try it?

We have a little show called day at the forge, there you go, there you go, that's nice, brother, and you do whatever you want. blacksmith over the course of a day and walk away with what you made, so it's a fundraiser, but it's the answer to your question: do people want to do it? Yes, sometimes they do, there you go, you're in. a slot and loosen there you have it by the way we are not blacksmiths because we get dirty the material we work with is black at rest okay then the iron forms a rust it is black and that is why you are in a blacksmith shop on the right hand side for the upper part everything is same but look at your hands, it takes about a day oh yes, absolutely this is the one that is finished, the one that I made no, I made this hook and I will hang it, I love it.

Guess how many states have a city or town named Galena next on John McGivern's Main Streets? I'm sure you've heard of the Mayo Clinic and I'm sure you realize that has nothing to do with seasonings. You know how I know you you're a singing nurse try the magic let me guess what it is I don't know exactly here we are in rochester minnesota living the american dream through a dumpling if you guess 21 you're right because there are 21 states that have a community called galena , which means either 21 states have a real relationship with lead mining or 21 states thought the name galena was really nice.

We're with the galena sellers and we're talking to the brand ambassador and just so you know, I love that onetitle because whatever I ask you you will know Yes, that's true. I'm glad you think the same. This is a family business. Yeah, so we're actually, um, the third generation just took over the Galena vendors. In fact, my grandparents took a wine-making class at home in Cedar Rapids, where they lived at the time, yeah, and they loved it. They planted a vineyard in the early 90's and it somehow grew from there, when I was 12 my mom left me.

I made my first wine in 1999 and it was actually called eric the red and then as I got older I just gravitated towards it, um eric the red, which is still out there. It's not supposed to be a unique wine anymore and it's very popular, we are currently out of stock and I get emails and calls all the time, oh yes, really, and all the wines on there are made by you, yes, they are all made here. In our vineyard, a couple of miles from here, yes, we bring the fruit for the juice and everything is produced there.

What are your challenges in running this operation for me? With the arrival of the wine club that Anika has created. I have been creating special wines exclusive to wine club members. I started this thing called barrel series. The idea is to find unique special barrels that aren't typically used for wine and then put wine in them. This is in the center of the main street. It's you? We have to be very excited and proud of what happened, yes, yes, we are very grateful for the opportunity and this building came up for sale and for the opportunity to be in Galena and for the opportunity to take over the family business and continue with the legacy.

So Christine and I went for a walk, yeah, with the kids, come on, turn around, come on kids, let's go. I love your goats, thank you and you are going trekking, right? How did this start? So my grandfather bought this land in the In the 1950s he wanted to share it with people, he wanted to bring people here and educate them about the land and the things that were here and I have an animal lover here, Sammy, who does about five six years he wanted some goats and some chickens. and they took advantage of the opportunity to have a whole family involved.

My husband said no and looks at me like no one wants to walk with goats in the woods and I said maybe you're right I said but I already have some goats and I told him the worst case scenario is I'd end up with more goats and he said okay, so the first year we started I started doing marketing and working with local businesses, so they promoted us and people followed. Showing up in my yard over the summer, my husband was joking that I woke up the morning, there were 19 people standing in my front yard and I thought this is definitely something we want to pursue and see if we can grow what powers these goats' food, John.

Okay, wait, wait with the carrot thing. Okay, that's all. I have one more. Okay, so it was your idea to get goats. Did you have any idea what this would become? No, are you okay? being seventeen, that was pretty good, go goats, go goats, so this is floyd and this is clyde, two little babies and then once we got here we let them loose and let them wander with us, so yeah, in We walk around, we talk about everything related to goats and galena and we have a great time, it's a lot of fun, I mean, people go on and on and on and you go to bed at night with a really

full

heart, oh my god, we.

I've made so many people happy and look at all the laughs we've had along the way. Galena is in Joe Davis County. Joe Davis is a Kentucky militiaman who died in battle in the state of Indiana, which makes sense that a county would be named after him. he in illinois don't ask it's a long story just so you know it's pronounced davis it sounds like davies but the locals say davis so if you come here and say it's this joe davies county they'll look at you and think hello tourist. I'm thrilled to share these incredible views of the Midwest.

Check out. We're in Illinois, so in 2014 we did a big community campaign to open the horseshoe mound and created this preserve to be a kind of outdoor welcoming walkway or path. We are greeted by this really landscaped and very park-like feel, so the intention of the way it was designed is that as you get further away it gets wilder and the solstice was created because this is one of the most peaks. joe highs Davis County and stargazing is amazing when we host events where you're sitting here and talking to people about the driftless area, so if we're talking, yeah, exactly, talking about this wonderful driftless area drifts and while you look into the distance, like me.

I'm talking, you can experience it, kind of an introduction to our work is to go out and experience the reserves to get out and enjoy the outdoors and that's really one of the ways that we engage people in our mission and work because how can you preserve? and protect something if you don't love it, you understand, this landscape, this view tells a story of our human history and it's very important to protect that absolutely, yeah, without that, who we are, Cameron and Jason, do you know what's behind you? A fantastic three. -Declare to see it so you know that every community owes a debt of gratitude to its veterans.

We join the people of Galena in honoring and remembering all those who served. Have you ever been to that place? That place where there is always something new to see. there is always something new to learn that place with so much beauty that fills you with joy that place that says what you think and your heart where inspiration feeds your soul and where the wonder of the natural world is always growing rhyme and gardens at the state university of iowa this is where john mcgivern main

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would not be possible without the generous support of our patrons for believing in our mission and committing to supporting our upper midwest communities.

Thank you very much to the sponsors so galena said they were going to roll out the red carpet and obviously the rainbow flags you know there are more piles on the main

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dot tv because john mcgivern doesn't like to mess up the cutting room floor find me on social media or visit our website this is going to be fun in 1856 there was a terrible fire that destroyed most of main street so the city issued an ordinance that it couldn't be built with wood and a happy consequence of that ordinance was the fact that most of the buildings you see today were built right after that fire, in fact, 85 of This community is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Galena.

It is old and beautiful. I'm on Bent Street, which is one block west of the main street. When you arrive in Galena, where will you stay? There are guest houses. There are B&Bs. You have to go. look at this, this is the third floor of this building, the first floor is on the main street, three floors down, yes, look at that, thank the lord for the walkway you created, this, isn't it? I did it with what you were from an old condemned abandoned building like oh come on let's do this so it's a two bedroom two bathroom apartment this is extravagant thank you huge windows yeah and this is the street main right here, yeah, that's the main street, so when you walked into this building, how was it condemned, how long has it been? before the vision actually happens and you're like, this is what it's going to look like, so you have a picture in your head and then you go back in time and you know we wanted it to be historic because it's a historic building. but then add all the modern conveniences, oh how nice and secluded, really, yes, yes, it's quiet down here.

I always think that every room has something special, a urinal with a view, there is nothing like that, it was a lot, but that's it, but that's it. and it was fun are you ready to do another one? Not Joan, it's okay. When I get back to town I'll ask Joan if I can have 203 and she'll remember. Can't she? We will talk about who Desoto is. Hernando de. Soto yeah, who is he, he's the discoverer of the Mississippi River, I should know, you should know, okay, yeah, this was built when in 1855 that's when the doors opened in 1853 that's when they started construction it's iconic people know galina of this hotel and This hotel knows Galena very well, yes, it is a great landmark.

The only hotel in downtown Galena that you know of used to be considered the largest hotel in the west. Wow, yeah, who's been here? Famous people who called this home for one night. Well, Abraham Lincoln spoke from the balcony in 1856. General Grant's presidential headquarters in the mid-1860s. General Grant Abraham Lincoln, this was the area for General Grant's presidential headquarters. Wow, and if you're looking for the latest people, we've had Harrison. ford and kevin costner have frequented the hotel they have yeah and they're like hey mike what's up i wish they were like that yeah i wish they were like that galena illinois this hometown speaks to me and just for you I know you'll never have to look at it.

Okay, stay with me. Sounds good, this is all yours today. It all worked, right? I guess I don't know. We'll find out when you go back and watch this. I won't fire you right away. You can make a mistake once or twice. I just blew it. Okay, take two.