Galena vs Galena – Round 2

A Tale of Two Galenas II

It's the second edition in our series of "Galena vs Galena" comparisons.  As unique as our own Galena, Illinois is, its name belongs to lots of other locations in the US.  Some sources list as many as 25 other places by that name around the country including Galenas in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia, and Washington.

In our feature debut we highlighted Galena, Kansas, this time around we'll compare Galena, Illinois to Galena, Indiana.  The Indiana version is a little more than half the size of its Illinois counterpart population-wise, home to 1818 hoosiers vs 3429 residents of Galena, Illinois.  The Indiana Galena is also a bit more than half of the size of Galena, Illinois in area, 2.68 to 4.49 square miles.

These two towns are a bit more than 400 straight-line miles apart, a nearly eight-hour car trip separates them.  The drive into either one of these Galenas can be spectacular.  Both are situated in lovely terrain.  As for the views in the middle part of that journey, let's just say it's Illinois and Indiana.  While Galena, Illinois is near the southern edge of the driftless region, nestled in hilly bluffs near the Northwest corner of the state, Galena Indiana is in the very hilly area of the southeastern reaches of Indiana.  The Galena, Illinois area attracts a lot of visitors in the autumn as a popular area to view the changing leaves.  Galena, Indiana boasts an even more densely forested home which attracts leaf-viewers to drive its narrow two-lane roads lined by oak, maple, and birch trees.

Both of these Galenas are near major rivers; Galena Illinois near the Mississippi, about 16 miles from Dubuque, Iowa, and Galena, Indiana about 18 miles from Louisville, Kentucky along the Ohio.

As the name implies, Galena, Illinois' history is deeply connected to lead mining.  Although Galena, Indiana is also named for the mineral form of lead, its history centers primarily around milling.

One striking difference between the communities is in the accent of the locals.  The people of Galena, Indiana tend to speak with a firmly southern accent, and there is a nasal, Great-Lakes twang in the speech of many people from Galena, Illinois.

Be your favorite filled with hoosiers or illinoisans, cheers to two great American Galenas!

See More: Galena vs Galena - Round 1.