Old Market House (Galena, Illinois)

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Old Market House
Galena IL Old Market House1.JPG
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Location 123 North Commerce Street, Galena, Jo Daviess County, Illinois
Coordinates 42°24′57″N90°25′39″W / 42.41583°N 90.42750°W / 42.41583; -90.42750 Coordinates: 42°24′57″N90°25′39″W / 42.41583°N 90.42750°W / 42.41583; -90.42750
Area less than one acre
Built 1845 [1]
Architectural style Greek Revival [1]
NRHP reference # 73000707 [2]
Added to NRHP July 16, 1973

The Old Market House, currently being operated as the Galena Welcome Center, is a brick building built in the Greek Revival style in 1845 in Galena, Illinois. It is owned and operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency as an Illinois State Historic Site.

Greek Revival architecture architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries

The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture. The term was first used by Charles Robert Cockerell in a lecture he gave as Professor of Architecture to the Royal Academy of Arts, London in 1842.

Galena, Illinois City in Illinois, United States

Galena is the largest city in and the county seat of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, with a population of 3,429 at the 2010 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 mined by Native Americans in the area for over a thousand years. Owing to these deposits, Galena was the site of the first major mineral rush in the United States. By 1828, the population was estimated at 10,000, rivaling the population of Chicago at the time. The city emerged as the largest steamboat hub on the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. Galena was the home of Ulysses S. Grant and eight other Civil War generals. Today, the city is a tourist destination known for its history, architecture, and resorts.

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City hall and public market

The Old Market House was built by the city of Galena to serve as a city hall and enclosed public farmer's market. [1] A rapid increase in population in the Galena area in the 1830s and 1840s, largely a result of the discovery of galena, a kind of lead ore found in the region, had led to a sharp increase in demand for local foodstuffs.

Lead Chemical element with atomic number 82

Lead is a chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, lead is silvery with a hint of blue; it tarnishes to a dull gray color when exposed to air. Lead has the highest atomic number of any stable element and three of its isotopes are endpoints of major nuclear decay chains of heavier elements.

The Old Market House's business plan called for the US$50 per year rents from the twelve enclosed farmer's market stalls to help maintain the building. [3] The $2,500 used for initial construction was obtained through the sale of $5 per share stocks, which was enabled by an 1845 act of the Galena City Council. [4] Sellers who could not rent a stall were allocated space in the market square just outside the building.

Stock financial instrument

The stock of a corporation is all of the shares into which ownership of the corporation is divided. In American English, the shares are commonly known as "stocks". A single share of the stock represents fractional ownership of the corporation in proportion to the total number of shares. This typically entitles the stockholder to that fraction of the company's earnings, proceeds from liquidation of assets, or voting power, often dividing these up in proportion to the amount of money each stockholder has invested. Not all stock is necessarily equal, as certain classes of stock may be issued for example without voting rights, with enhanced voting rights, or with a certain priority to receive profits or liquidation proceeds before or after other classes of shareholders.

Cars and grocery stores

The Old Market House continued to serve the people of Galena until about 1910. As an increasing percentage of local citizens bought motor vehicles, households began to "shop around" for foodstuffs. Local grocery stores, which paid property taxes to the city of Galena, were not interested in helping to maintain their competitors. In about 1910 the stalls of the Old Market House went out of business. [3]

The city of Galena moved its offices elsewhere in 1938, making the old building redundant. It was given to the state of Illinois in 1947. [3]

A frontier community

The Old Market House was extensively rebuilt and restored in 1954 to repair growing deterioration. [1] It has been refitted by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency to serve as a visitor services information desk and museum of local social history.

Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in history departments in Britain, Canada, France, Germany, and the United States. In the two decades from 1975 to 1995, the proportion of professors of history in American universities identifying with social history rose from 31% to 41%, while the proportion of political historians fell from 40% to 30%. In the history departments of British and Irish universities in 2014, of the 3410 faculty members reporting, 878 (26%) identified themselves with social history while political history came next with 841 (25%).

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Old Market House, State Historic Sites, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 9 February 2007.
  2. National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  3. 1 2 3 "Old Market House". Ulysses S. Grant Home . Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  4. Campbell, Thomas A., Jr. "Old Market House," (PDF), National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form, July 16, 1973, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency , pp. 15.