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Genuine Small Town Charm,
Beautifully Restored 19th-Century Homes and a Lively Events Calendar
Bring Retirees to Picturesque and Historic Galena, Illinois
Cost of Living: Meets the National Average
| Historic Galena
(population 3,500) is about 145 miles northwest of
Chicago and is often called the "outdoor
museum of the Victorian Midwest."
It was founded in 1826 and within 20
years was one of the most important cities in Illinois,
both as a busy riverboat hub along the Galena River and
as a large and prosperous lead-producing center (its
name is from the Latin for lead ore). U.S.
President Ulysses S. Grant lived here, as did nine other
Civil War generals, and Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A.
Douglas both gave speeches here. By
the end of the 1800s, however, lead production was in
decline, and Galena became just another poor rural
farming community. Then in the 1960s and
1970s, townspeople began restoring their trove of
19th-century homes, and by the 1980s, tourists had
discovered Galena. Today, the
town looks much as it did when Grant lived here, and residents
enjoy a very low crime rate,
reasonably-priced housing, solid medical care and a
quaint hometown ambiance. Of the population, 48%
is age 45 or better.
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Galena's cost of living meets the national average, and
the median home price is $155,000, not bad for a spot
where most dwellings have oodles of character in a
variety of architectural styles, from relatively modest
but colorful Victorian homes and brick Federal
residences to more elaborate Italianate mansions.
Eighty-five percent of Galena's homes are within its
historic district, and the town is a popular destination
for Chicagoans with second homes.
Many retirees live in a master planned development
called The Galena Territory, a large, rambling, all ages
community with a wide selection of homes and prices,
four golf courses, a marina, a packed activities
calendar and much more. Galena also has a few
apartment complexes - rents run between $400 and
$700 per month.
While real estate is reasonably
priced, Galena property taxes are on the high side,
thanks primarily to the limited tax base in rural Jo
Daviess County. Homes are assessed at 33% of
market value and charged roughly $7.13 per $100 in
valuation. The annual taxes on a $155,000
residence are approximately $3,645.
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There are, though, several homestead exemptions that
help lower the tax bill. These include a general exemption
for owner-occupied properties (up to $6,000) and the Senior Citizens
Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption, which allows those with less
than $55,000 annual income to maintain the equalized assessed value at
the base year amount. Most
retirement income is not taxed, and health insurance and long term
care insurance premiums are deductible.
This is an
interactive map. Click on the arrows in the upper left hand
corner to move the map to the East, West, North or South, and click on the +/- signs
(more than once if necessary) to zoom in
and out.
Galena receives raves from just about everyone, and
although it is small, it has much of what any retiree might want or
need, including twenty-five restaurants, two community theaters, five
public golf courses, five banks, six public parks, a recreation
center, eleven churches (nine protestant, two Catholic), three
wineries (including one downtown), ten spas (which seems like a lot
for such a small town), a farmers' market and three country clubs!
The downtown has 75 shops, antique stores and galleries, most within
walking distance of each other (and there is a Wal-Mart in town).
The three and a half mile-long Galena River Bike Trail gives walkers
and cyclists a pretty place to get some exercise, and for book lovers,
the wonderful Galena Public Library, housed in a century-old building,
not only has a decent collection but offers Friday night movies,
volunteer opportunities, a book club, a Civil War Roundtable, free
wifi internet access and more. Since Dubuque, Iowa
(population 58,000) is about 20 minutes down the road, anything not
found in Galena is not far away. And Chicago, with its
world-class museums, restaurants, sporting venues and shopping, is
just a three hour drive to the southeast.
Civil War re-enactments, concerts and art fairs fill
the town's parks nearly every summer weekend, drawing locals and
tourists alike, and attendance is mostly free. Art
galleries and studios display one of a kind works and many offer
hands-on classes. In the evenings, taverns fill with music as
local R&B, folk and country bands show off their talents.
During the winter, the Chestnut Mountain Resort is the place to ski -
nineteen downhill trails present not really a challenge but a gentle
way to reach safety below. Several nearby state parks and
recreation areas, including Apple River Canyon and rhyming Blanding
Landing, provide access to hiking, camping and fishing.
The Galena Boat Landing is a put in spot for the river and is near
downtown.
Some interesting museums are one reason that tourists come to
Galena. The 22-room Belvedere Mansion, built by an
ambassador to Belgium in 1857, is furnished with a fun collection of
Victorian items, not to mention some pieces from Liberace's estate and
the famous green drapes that Scarlett turned into a dress for a
meeting with Rhett in Gone with the Wind. The
Vinegar Hill Historic Lead Mine and Museum, which dates from 1822,
offers underground mine tours. The Chicago Athenaeum
Museum of Architecture and Design has a satellite facility here and
features contemporary art and architecture. Perhaps the
most popular museum is the U.S. Grant Home, which is now a state
historic site and was presented to the general by his fellow citizens
in 1867. This modest dwelling, with its brick walls, white trim
and green shutters, still overlooks the town cemetery and is just the
same as when Grant lived in it. Galena also has three historic
home tours a year.
Thanks to its proximity to the Galena River, Galena
has been threatened by floods on more than one occasion, and in 1951
town leaders installed a sea wall and huge green flood gates at the
entrance to Main Street to protect the downtown from flooding.
In 1993, when the Mississippi River and her tributaries topped their
banks from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, Galena was spared thanks
to the gates.
The Jo Daviess County Senior Center provides meals,
resources and referrals for the senior community. The Stephenson
County Senior Center also provides services and programs to Galena
retirees. Home Instead is a company that offers seniors
assistance with medications, errands, meal preparation and other light
duties in their home.
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Galena has one hospital, the Midwest Medical
Center, which has 25 beds and meets national averages in all
specialty areas. It also accepts both Medicaid and
Medicare patients. The town has a fully staffed 911
emergency service, but if a larger hospital is needed, one
is in Dubuque, Iowa (20 miles), Maquoketa, Iowa (20 miles)
and Platteville, Wisconsin (23 miles).
There is no public bus system, but a trolley
system geared toward tourists does provide limited
transportation around town. Jo
Daviess County Transit provides transit for medical
purposes. The nearest public airport is 20
miles away in Dubuque.
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Winter temperatures can dip into the single digits,
and winter days are overcast with snowfall reaching 10 to 12 inches
per month. During the summer, the temperatures reach into
the mid-80s and low-90s. The comfort index rating (a combination
of temperature and humidity) meets the national average. The sun
shines 190 days of the year. Water quality is below the national
average, but the air quality is above the national average.
Galena is "the town that time forgot," in a
good way, but it has drawbacks. For one, the winter
weather is not everyone's cup of tea. And the number of
summer tourists that descend, filling the quaint shops, cafes and
restaurants, may be another. It seems, too, that many of them do
not want to go home as they tend linger into the winter.
Galena is also losing population, 4% in the last decade.
So while there are negatives, the pluses seem to
outweigh them, particularly for retirees in search of a lively small
town with character, a crime rate that is less than half the U.S.
average, a mature demographic, plenty of activities and the
architecture of an era when mining magnates held court and riverboat
captains were kings.
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