It was there at the start of the Civil War

On a recent outing Tom Anderson, Lil' Nick and I were up in Galena and we visited Grant park. Grant park sits on a beautiful stretch of manicured land overlooking the East bank of the Galena river and opposite downtown. It has historic pavilions as well as an enchanting fountain in the middle of the park. A stone and wood footbridge connects the town with the park as well.

There's an imposing statue of the parks namesake, U.S. Grant and there are several historic cannons in the park including what I consider the crown jewel of the collection, an 1860 Blakely rifled cannon that was one of the actual guns that fired on Fort Sumter at the beginning of the civil war.  The Blakely was state of the art in its day and a sympathizer gave it to the Confederacy just in time for the war to commence. It survived the war and eventually a Galena veteran arranged for it to be brought to town as a memorial.

If you ever get up that way be sure to stop by and spend a couple hours wandering through the park and just Relaxing. You won't be sorry you did.