Contact:

Robert C. Myers, Curator
Berrien County Historical Association
P.O. Box 261
Berrien Springs, MI 49103

Tele: (269) 471-1202

Museum tour to Galena

Places are still available on the Berrien County Historical Association's tour of Galena, Illinois. Museum curator Bob Myers will lead the four-day, three-night tour to Galena and Dubuque. The tour will run Wednesday – Saturday, June 7-10, and will depart from the Courthouse Museum in Berrien Springs.

Lead mines made Galena a boomtown in the mid-19th century. Miners wrested galena (lead ore) out of the ground and shipped it down the nearby Mississippi River. By the Civil War, many of the Midwest's leading citizens lived in Galena. It residents included Ulysses S. Grant (then a down-on-his-luck former army captain), and the Washburn family, a political dynasty whom historians have called the "Kennedy's of the 1860s." The town's 19th century character has survived intact. The end of the 20th century saw Galena awaken as a tourist Mecca. The entire town is now on the National Register of Historic Places and boasts some of the best-preserved commercial and domestic architecture in America.

Transportation for the BCHA's Galena Tour will be via Cardinal motorcoach, departing from Berrien Springs. Tour highlights include a trolley tour of Galena, lodging at the historic DeSoto House Hotel, the Galena Historical Museum, the Galena Market House and the Elihu Washburn House.

In nearby Dubuque, Iowa, the tour will visit the new National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium. This brand-new facility interprets the history of the Mississippi River with exhibits that include the steamboat William M. Black and the towboat Logsdon, plus a 92 foot-long map of the Mississippi River. The tour then takes a 2 - hour Mississippi River dinner cruise aboard the Spirit of Dubuque, an authentic sternwheel riverboat. The last day of the tour takes a visit to historic Prairie du Chien to tour the fabulous Villa Louis, an Italianate mansion built in 1872. Now fully restored with its original furnishings intact, Villa Louis sits on a 25-acre estate on the Mississippi River.

The tour fee of $549 (museum members) and $579 (non-members) includes motorcoach transportation, lodging, all breakfasts and dinners, one lunch, all admission and tour fees, taxes and gratuities. Non-members can join the Berrien County Historical Association and take immediate advantage of the lower members' rate.

For reservations or more information, call the Berrien County Historical Association at (269) 471-1202.

The Berrien County Historical Association’s 1839 Courthouse Complex is located at 313 N. Cass Street (old US 31), in Berrien Springs, Michigan. It is the site of the Historic county seat and comprises the 1839 Courthouse, 1870s Sheriff’s Residence, 1830 Murdock Log House, Bennett’s Forge and 1870 Jail Plaza. For more information call (269) 471-1202.