History
In the years leading up to the Civil War, Grant and his family lived in Galena, with Grant working at a store owned by his father and managed by his brothers. Grant and his wife Julia rented a brick home, which today is privately owned and not open to tours. In 1861, Grant left Galena to fight in the Civil War.
A year prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1860 city clerk Alexander J. Jackson had the house built on Bouthillier Street. At the conclusion of the Civil War, a group of local Republicans, led by Thomas B. Hughlett, pooled their money and purchased the home for $2,500 (equal to $37,957 today) in June 1865. Two months later this group of men presented the house to the Grant family, upon their return to Galena. Grant lived at the house until his election as President in 1868. He and his family were so fond of some of the furnishings that they took them with them to Washington. Grant continued to make occasional visits to the area, staying at his house while in town. His final visit took place in 1880.
Following Grant's death, his children donated the house to the city of Galena in 1904 on the condition that it be maintained as a memorial to Grant. The city, finding that maintaining the home was too costly, transferred ownership of the house to the state of Illinois in 1931.
In 1911 a storm damaged a portion of the Grant Home. While most of the house suffered little damage, the portion of the house containing the kitchen was seriously damaged; as a result, most of the items in the kitchen were not actually owned by the Grants while they lived in the house. In 1955 an extensive renovation of the house was done, restoring the appearance to that of the house in 1868 when it appeared in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.
Read more about this topic: Ulysses S. Grant Home
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