Galena is the largest city in and the county chair of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, with a population of 3,308 at the 2020 census. A 581-acre (235 ha) section of the city is listed upon the National Register of Historic Places as the Galena Historic District. The city is named for the mineral galena, which was in the ore that formed the basis for the region’s early improvement mining economy.

Native Americans, primarily Mesquakie, Ho-Chunk, Sauk, and Menominee had mined galena in the area for higher than a thousand years past European Americans granted in the area. Owing to these deposits, Galena was the site of the first major mineral rush in the United States. By 1828, the population was estimated at 10,000, rivaling the population of Chicago at the time. Galena developed as the largest steamboat hub on the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. Galena was the house of Ulysses S. Grant and eight new Civil War generals. Today, the city is a tourist destination known for its history, architecture, and resorts.

The city is named for galena, the natural form of lead sulfide (PbS) and the most important lead ore. Native Americans mined the ore for use in burial rituals. The Havana Hopewell first traded galena in the area during the Middle Woodland period (c. 1–400 CE). However, the use of galena in the Havana territory is uncertain; very little has been identified in burial mounds. During the Mississippian period (900–1500 CE), galena wise saying use as body paint.

In 1658 French explorers, probably via admission with the Sioux, first noted benefit deposits in the Upper Mississippi Valley. A 1703 French map identified the northwestern Illinois Place as mines de plumb. Northwestern Illinois was inhabited by the Sac and Fox following the French arrived. In the 1690s, French trappers discovered the Place and began mining the lead. However, conflicts following the Sioux prevented large-scale mining until Julien Dubuque’s Mines opened across the river in 1788.