Galena Historic District - As A Tourist Destination

As A Tourist Destination

The city of Galena hosts more than one million visitors annually. The exact number of visitors varies, depending upon the source of the estimate and the year it was made. The New York Times cited "more than a million" visitors in 2002, as did the Smithsonian magazine in 2007. In 2003, a Chicago Tribune article stated 1.3 million as the number of visitors to the city of Galena per year; two years later the same publication estimated 1.4 million annual visitors. The historic district is populated by tourist-driven shops and business, including dozens of bed and breakfast inns. More than a dozen art galleries dot the downtown area, which is also home to numerous restaurants and taverns.

After the Galena Historic District was listed on the National Register, the area began to change. Antique stores sprouted up, according to The New York Times, "like mushrooms after a steady rain." The antique stores have since been replaced. More restaurants, and retail shops, many geared toward tourists are located in the storefronts of downtown Galena. The changes by what some residents and business owners have linked to owners in Chicago have met with mixed reviews. The New York Times reported in 2007 that many long-time Galena residents and second home owners alike appreciated the shift from antique shops to retail and restaurants. In a 2005 Chicago Tribune article, some residents and business owners lamented the growth of the city as well as the rise in rent costs instigated by the change in Galena's commercial base.