Galena’s Living History Alliance
Galena’s Living History Alliance is a local non-profit organization focusing on the history of Galena honoring it by researching the history of our participating homes, placing plaques identifying the date of construction, name and occupation of the original owner and telling the stories of the first owners.
Showcasing Galena’s historic homes
Architectural style
Over 200 homes in the GLHA plaque program showcase many exquisite architectural styles. From Italianate to Gothic Revival, Victorian, Federal and more these homes offer a glimpse into the past that cannot be experienced anywhere else.
Notable residents
Discover the many influential figures who once called our plaqued homes their own. Miners, generals, farmers and shopkeepers all called Galena home and shaped it into what it has become today.
Living history
Experience the past come to life as you explore each home’s unique story and the role of its owners in Galena’s history. Today we honor and recognize those pioneers with the beautiful plaques on their homes.
Plaque Program
Historic House Plaque Program
The Galena Living History Alliance (GLHA) is dedicated to preserving and celebrating the architectural heritage of Galena and Jo Daviess County. Our primary initiative, the Historic House Plaque Program, increases public awareness and appreciation of the area’s historic homes and buildings.
Is my home eligible for a historic plaque?
Any home built before 1930 is eligible for inclusion in the program. Over 200 buildings are currently in the GLHA plaque program. They range from log cabins, commercial buildings, stunning Italinates, and cozy miners’ cottages to stately Victorians.
A few examples of the architectural styles in the GLHA program.
William Reinwald House, 1847, Log cabin home
Charles Lowes House, c.1852, Miner’s cottage
RIchard seal house, 1871, Italianate
August J. Millhouse House, 1899, Victorian
Latest news from our blog
The Living History Walk is nearly here!
The Galena Living History Alliance and the Galena Center for[…]
See our latest Facebook posts.
We update our Facebook page regularly with information about our homes, businesses and churches participating in the GLHA historic plaque program. Scroll down on the posts to see the latest posts.
Galena's Living History Alliance
A window into Galena's historic truth
If you happened to see five beautifully dressed Victorian ladies walking along Park Avenue during our first annual Stroll Through Time, please know they weren't just out for a leisurely stroll. They were WORKING!
For SIX HOURS, our guides led groups from house to house, introduced our performers, shared a little history, and made sure everyone knew where they were going.
And let's talk about those outfits! There was plenty of planning, preparation, hairstyling, pinning, tucking, and squeezing involved. Between the petticoats, and skirts wide enough to require their own ZIP codes, we're amazed they could navigate the sidewalks, let alone do it for six hours!
By the end of the day, the hairstyles were still holding, the smiles were still there, but their voices were nearly gone and we're fairly certain their feet ached. We suspect the first thing to come off when they got home wasn't their shoes. It was about 14 pounds of Victorian respectability!
Please help us give a HUGE thank-you to our fabulous guides:
Eva Ott-Kromphardt
Jean Carlson
Kathy Lapp
Michelle Heurung-Davis
Stefanie Braunreiter
(Also, a shout out to Amy Laskye for stepping in!)
These ladies put so much time into making our first Stroll Through Time a success.
And just think… They get to do it all again on June 26th!! Perhaps we should start researching what Victorian women wore on their days off. We're voting for slippers and elastic waistbands!
We have some pretty wonderful guys in Galena's Living History Alliance, and today we want to give them a little well-deserved recognition for everything they did behind the scenes to make our Stroll Through Time such a success!
These guys were there bright and early, setting everything up before our first guests arrived. Throughout the day, they sold tickets, helped keep our groups together, answered questions, and shared their knowledge of Galena's history at our historian table. And when the last group had finished, guess who was still there taking everything down?
They were the first to arrive and the last to leave, and we truly don't know what we would have done without them!
A HUGE thank you to Bill Speer, Craig Albaugh, Dale Glick, Jeff Braunreiter, Kirk Kromphardt, and Norm Davis!
You guys are the best! We're so lucky to have you, and we hope you know just how much we appreciate everything you do for Galena's Living History Alliance. It takes a village to pull off an event like this, and we're awfully glad you're part of ours!
Looking for a little murder and mayhem? Galena Center for the Arts' production of "Murder Girl" promises an entertaining evening filled with mystery, laughter, and a little family dysfunction! Who doesn't love a good whodunit?
Please join us in supporting them, as they do us! The Galena Center for the Arts was such an enormous help during our first Stroll Through Time, generously sharing their time, talents, and resources. We're so grateful for their friendship, and now it's our turn to show them a little love!
Performances are November 5–7 and 12–14 at 7:00 p.m., with matinees November 8 and 15 at 2:00 p.m.
Gather your friends, enjoy a great show, and support an organization that brings so much to our little town!
Get your tickets here:
We’re on YouTube
See our latest YouTube videos here for insights into Galena’s history and more from our historians.
