Galena and U.S. Grant History Museum

10/21/2026

🇺🇸 Ulysses S. Grant Day in Illinois!

Legislation has been filed to designate April 27 as Ulysses S. Grant Day in Illinois, honoring the 18th President of the United States and his lasting connection to our state.

Recognizing this day would be a meaningful way to preserve our history and educate future generations about Grant's contributions to our country! 👏

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie recently filed legislation to declare April 27 of each year as Ulysses S. Grant Day. As the 18th President of the United States, Grant settled in Galena, part of Leader Tony McCombie’s legislative district, and from 1860 led the Union to victory in the Civil War...

10/07/2026

📦 Museum Move: Part 2! 🏛️

It’s truly all hands on deck as we continue the big move, relocating more than 14,000 artifacts to their new home at the Galena and U.S. Grant History Museum!

From carefully packing and transporting to organizing and getting everything settled, there’s a lot happening behind the scenes. It’s a huge undertaking, but we’re excited to see this next chapter come together!

Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes glimpses of the move! 🚚📚✨

09/25/2026

Day 5 of our first new museum move! 🖼️ Gronen
Guardian Fine Art Services installed Peace in Union along with other one-of-a-kind paintings! Once the painting was placed on the wall, Midwest Art Conservation Center touched up a few areas on the frame to give it the finishing touch.

Our next big move is in just 1.5 weeks, stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes updates! 👀✨

09/24/2026

🏛️ New Museum Move — Day 4! 📦
The last of the large artifacts have arrived, Gear’s portrait is up on the wall, and our mining artifacts have been unboxed! ⛏️🖼️

Tomorrow, the painting goes up! 🎨 We’re getting closer every day and can’t wait to open to the public in November! 🎉

Gronen
Midwest Art Conservation Center
Guardian Fine Art Services

09/23/2026

Day 3 of our museum move! 🏛️
Today we moved some of the heavy artifacts, including the Gear portrait and Cigar Store Indian, and fitted Peace in Union into its new frame.

A huge shoutout to our amazing volunteers! Your hard work, strength, and dedication are making this long-awaited move a success. We couldn’t do it without you! ❤️

09/22/2026

🚚 Day 2 of our special move!
The museum is officially on the move to our new museum facility! Gronen We’re making great progress as collections make their way to their new home.

🎨 Our painting, Peace in Union, has been secured to its new stretcher and is now one step closer to being framed! Midwest Art Conservation Center

📦 Numerous artifacts have also been safely rehomed at the new site, where they’re being prepared for upcoming exhibitions or carefully placed into our new archive. Guardian Fine Art Services

There’s still plenty of work ahead, but it’s exciting to see our new museum taking shape—one artifact at a time! ✨

09/21/2026

🎉 Peace in Union has made it to our new museum!

The move is officially underway, and thousands of artifacts will be making their way to our new facility over the next month. We’re thrilled to see this next chapter come together and can’t wait to share our new home with you!

Stay tuned for more information about our November opening day! 👏

Guardian Fine Art Services Midwest Art Conservation Center

The Galena and U.S. Grant Museum began moving 160 historic artifacts, including Thomas Nast's Peace in Union painting, to its new, updated facility.

09/19/2026

📦 Big moves are happening at the Galena and U.S. Grant History Museum!

The museum will be closed September 21–25 as Guardian Fine Art Services helps us move hundreds of artifacts to our new facility.

The exciting news? Construction is almost complete! 🎉 We anticipate opening the new museum to the public in November!

Stay tuned for upcoming museum hours and more updates. We can’t wait to welcome you to our new home! 🏛️✨

09/19/2026

Unfortunately, the Museum (Barrows Mansion) will be closed today due to water issues.
We will open again tomorrow at 10am!

09/14/2026

✨ Conservation is underway! The Midwest Art Conservation Center is in Galena this week restoring the frame of Peace in Union!

This American treasure will soon have a new home in our new museum, and we’re thrilled to be part of bringing it back to life! 🇺🇸🎨