Galena, Illinois called Galena "La Pointe" and early Americans adopted this name as "The Point". Early documentation officially records the name as "Fever River", an early name for the Galena River, though it does not appear that this name was commonly used. George Davenport, a retired colonel in the United States Army, successfully shipped Galena's first boatload of lead ore down the Mississippi River in 1816. Three years later, Jesse W. Shull built a trading post. The Thomas H. January family, who arrived in 1821 from Maysville, Kentucky, are considered the first permanent American settlers. The next year, the US Department of
Galena Historic District Places. The Galena Historic District contains more than 1,000 buildings constructed before 1900 that are considered contributing properties. The center of downtown Galena is laid out in three parallel segmental tiers starting at Main Street closest to the river. Beyond Main Street, and at a higher elevation, are Bench and Prospect Streets. Main Street forms the primary commercial strip through Galena and is lined with buildings two, three, and four stories tall. Most of Main Street's structures are built of red brick and cast in Federal style of the simple commercial style of the 1840s. On Bench Street, most of