Back in the 1800's, Galena Illinois had more than its share of wealthy steam-boat captains and rich merchants. The town is on the Fever River, just 3 miles from the Mississippi River. Many of the homes that were built are on the National Register of Historic of Historic Places.
The Felt House was built around
1848 by Lucius S. Felt, who owned a dry goods store on Galena's Main Street. Today the home is called The Inn at Felt Manor and operates as a bed and breakfast. The third floor has a grand ballroom with two adjoining parlors that the Felts used for entertaining.
The double stone staircase was added in the 1860s. Called ‘Felt's Folly' by his neighbors, Lucius Felt spent $40,000 to have the steps chiseled into the limestone hillside, at a price that would be equivalent to over $1.3 million today.
Steps are important in a town as hilly as Galena.
These are the High School steps. I suppose that because the nearby town that we lived in was in a part of the state that had been scraped flat by glaciers , hills and steps were something of a novelty to us. When we visited the town my brother and I would convince my dad to drop us off at the bottom of the steps and drive to the top to pick us up. It became something of a tradition.
I'm glad I didn't have to climb them each day to get to school! Especially in winter when they were covered in snow and ice. You can see the green roof of the High School tower up above the trees.
Today the old High School has been converted into luxury condos.
Several years ago I went to Galena on a weekend when they were holding a house tour. This house was one of my favorites. It is called the Osprey Nest, and is just a small little house that is three stories high built on the side of the hill. You enter from one street and go downstairs to exit onto the street below!
All the house around town are quite picture worthy.
