Fox River House | |
 Galena Hotel in 2011 | |
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 Interactive map showing the location for Galena Hotel | |
| Location | 116 W. Galena Aurora, Kane County, Illinois, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°45′32″N88°19′4″W / 41.75889°N 88.31778°W |
| Built | 1862 |
| NRHP reference No. | 76000710 |
| Added to NRHP | May 4, 1976 |
The Galena Hotel, originally known as the Fox River House, is a historic hotel in Aurora, Illinois. It is the oldest hotel still standing in the city.
By the 1850s, Aurora was a major manufacturing and milling center in the Fox River valley. The Galena–Chicago trail, which carried stagecoaches from Chicago to northwestern Illinois, passed through town and provided a means of commerce. The first Fox River House was constructed in 1857 along this road for A. N. and G. Pierce. A fire destroyed the hotel in 1860. E. D. Huntoon purchased the vacant lot two years later to rebuild the hotel. The hotel was known as an important local gathering place. Huntoon ran the hotel for twenty-six years until selling it. [1]
The new owner renamed the hotel the Northwestern Hotel in 1888. It was renamed to the Grand Hotel when sold to a Mrs. Jones in 1907. The Koummoutseas family purchased the hotel in 1961 and again renamed it the Galena Hotel. It is the oldest hotel still standing in Aurora. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 4, 1976. [1]
The structure is four stories tall plus a basement. The brick and limestone were locally fired and mined. Only the fourth floor remains consistent with the original design for the hotel, but little change has occurred on the exterior of the building. [1]
This hotel was purchased by Nawab Khurram Khan and Dr. Shuja ul-Mulk in 1997 from Besey Koummoutseas.
Galena is a mineral and an important lead ore.
Elgin is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is located 35 mi (56 km) northwest of Chicago along the Fox River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 114,797, making it the sixth-most populous city in the state.
Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in 1902, when it separated from Cicero. It is closely tied to the smaller town of River Forest.
Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area. Located primarily in DuPage and Kane Counties, it is the second-most populous city in Illinois, after Chicago, and the 144th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 180,542 at the 2020 census.
Galena is the largest city in and the county seat of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States. It had a population of 3,308 at the 2020 census. A 581-acre (235 ha) section of the city is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Galena Historic District. The city is named for the mineral galena, which was in the ore that formed the basis for the region's early lead mining economy.
Ottawa is a city in and the county seat of LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. It is located at the confluence of the navigable Fox River and Illinois River, the latter being a conduit for river barges and connects Lake Michigan at Chicago, to the Mississippi River, and North America's 25,000 mile river system. The population estimate was 18,742, as of 2020. It is the principal city of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.
The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (G&CU) was a railroad running west from Chicago to Freeport, Illinois, never reaching Galena, Illinois. A later route went to Clinton, Iowa. Incorporated in 1836, the G&CU became the first railroad built out from Chicago.
Michigan Avenue is a north-south street in Chicago that runs at 100 east on the Chicago grid. The northern end of the street is at Lake Shore Drive on the shore of Lake Michigan in the Gold Coast Historic District. The street's southern terminus is at Sibley Boulevard in the southern suburb of Dolton, but like many other Chicago streets, it exists in several disjointed segments.
The Hotel Julien Dubuque is a hotel located in downtown Dubuque, Iowa at Second and Main streets. The hotel currently has 133 guest rooms, Caroline's restaurant, the Riverboat Lounge, the Potosa Spa, a pool and fitness center, and large banquet facilities. The interior redesign converted the existing 168 guest rooms into 133 luxury rooms and suites and restored the historic lobby and grand ballroom, while at the same time adding modern systems and amenities like a geothermal heating and cooling system, a reflective roof, a swimming pool and fitness facility. It was included as a contributing property in the Old Main Street Historic District in 1983 as the Julien Motor Inn.
Fox Valley Mall, formerly Westfield Fox Valley and Fox Valley Center, is a shopping mall in Aurora, Illinois. The mall's anchor stores are JCPenney and Macy's. Some larger non-anchor stores include H&M and Forever 21. A Round One Entertainment is located in the former Sears wing. The Westfield Group acquired the shopping center in early 2002, and renamed it Westfield Shoppingtown Fox Valley, dropping the Shoppingtown name in June 2005. Westfield Group sold 80% interest in the mall as of December 2015.
West Aurora Public School District 129 is a unit school district in southeastern Kane County, Illinois. The present "West Side" school district covers the city of Aurora, Illinois with an eastern boundary of the Fox River, a southern boundary of the Kane County and Kendall County line, a western boundary of Aurora's city limits, and a northern boundary of the village limits of North Aurora, Illinois. Students from Aurora, North Aurora, Montgomery, Illinois and Sugar Grove, Illinois attend West Aurora schools.
The Nachusa House is a former hotel building in Dixon, Illinois, United States along Galena Avenue. The building was constructed in 1853 and operated continuously as a hotel until 1988. It underwent many alterations during the time it operated as a hotel. Following its period as a hotel the five-story mansard roofed building fell into disrepair and was nearly demolished in 1997. The building was restored by the Illinois Housing Development Authority and a Chicago developer at a cost of US$3.2 million and renovated into affordable housing for senior citizens. During its height the Nachusa House was a popular stop along rail and stagecoach lines and was a known layover for Abraham Lincoln. The Nachusa House was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Apple River Fort, today known as the Apple River Fort State Historic Site, was one of many frontier forts hastily completed by settlers in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin following the onset of the 1832 Black Hawk War. Located in present-day Elizabeth, Illinois, United States, the fort at the Apple River settlement was built in less than a week. It was one of the few forts attacked during the war and the only one attacked by a band led by Black Hawk himself. At the Battle of Apple River Fort, a firefight of about an hour ensued, with Black Hawk's forces eventually withdrawing. The fort suffered one militia man killed in action, and another wounded. After the war, the fort stood until 1847, being occupied by squatters before being sold to a private property owner who dismantled the building.
The Elihu Benjamin Washburne House, also known as the Washburne-Sheehan House, is a 1+1⁄2-story Greek Revival house located at 908 Third Street in Galena, Illinois. Constructed in 1844–45, the building was built for and owned by Elihu Benjamin Washburne, a prominent Galena lawyer who served in Congress during the American Civil War, and as Secretary of State and Minister to France under President Ulysses S. Grant, another famous Galenian. The Washburne House was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
The Galena Historic District is a historic district located in the city of Galena, Illinois, United States. The historic district encompasses 85 percent of the city of Galena and includes more than 800 properties. The downtown area consists of three successive tiers made up of Main, Bench and Prospect Streets. Within the boundaries of the district are such notable homes as the Ulysses S. Grant Home and the Elihu B. Washburne House. The Galena Historic District was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1969.
The Galena–Chicago trail was a stagecoach route located in northern Illinois that ran from the mid-to-late 1830s until 1854. As indicated by its name, the route linked Chicago, located in the northeast of the state, with Galena which was located in the lead mining district of the northwest. The Chicago-Galena trail includes the "Stagecoach Trail" that runs between Galena and Lena, Illinois. East of Lena the stage route follows U.S. Route 20 and Business U.S. Route 20 through Eleroy, Freeport and Rockford to Belvidere. This road began as the old State Road number 2 established on 15 January 1836 and laid out by June 1837.
Hotel Arthur, also commonly known as the Traction Terminal Building, is a historic, six-story building in Aurora, Illinois. It was originally designed as a hotel to service travelers on the Fox River. The Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railroad relocated their headquarters here in 1915, and the building became the final station on the Aurora branch.
Stolp Island is a small island in the Fox River in Aurora, Illinois. In 1986 the island and its 41 buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Stolp Island Historic District. It covers 0.03 square miles (0.1 km2) of land area.
The Hotel Aurora, also known as Aurora Hotel, is a hotel built in 1917 on Stolp Island in Aurora, Illinois, United States.
The Elgin Tower Building, originally the Home Banks Building, is a historic office building in downtown Elgin, Illinois. The tower is 186 feet tall and 15 stories. It was built in 1929 to house the Home National Bank and Home National Savings and Trust. Though initially successful, the Great Depression devastated the bank only months later. The tower was again prosperous following World War II, when demand for Elgin goods increased. However, this prosperity was only temporary, and the tower again fell on hard times in the 1960s, particularly after the 1965 closing of the Elgin National Watch Company. The tower was eventually purchased by William R. Stickling, who went to great lengths to restore it. It was donated to a charity named in his honor following his 1999 death, and the William R. Stickling Charitable Foundation continues to maintain the structure. Its restoration is considered a major part of a hopeful rehabilitation of downtown Elgin. The tower is one of only two Art Deco buildings in Elgin and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. An elevator in the building that had a wooden interior was destroyed by arson on May 4, 2014. The building was then purchased in 2016 by Capstone Development and renovated into apartments.
