Yes !
There is a new statue of General U.S. Grant in Galena.
He is downtown sitting on a bench in Washington Park. You can walk right up and say hello!
There is a requirement to be able to log this cache.
You must attach to your log a picture of yourself, or any identifying item, with the Grant statue.
The toughest part of this Virtual will be finding a parking space. I recommend you park away from Main Street and walk in the downtown area. Downtown businesses open at 10 AM. Arriving earlier will help. Weekdays are not as busy either.
When you reach the bench sit down and ask Grant the location of the leather shop where he worked. You may be surprised but many people have it wrong, including the sign behind the bench. Ulysses worked at the JR Grant Leather Store. It was owned by his father Jesse Root Grant. It opened in 1855, then moved in 1858 to the site described below. His brothers Samuel and Orvil worked there. Samuel was on the road servicing their satellite stores up river. Orvil worked in the store in Galena. It closed in 1864.
Samuel got Consumption, now known as Tuberculosis. Ulysses was invited to come to Galena to work with his brothers. They were to be equal partners. Ulysses arrived in Galena in 1860. Ulysses took over Samuel's job on the road. He traveled by riverboat, horse and wagon, or rode a horse. Occasionaly he would be at the store but didn't know where anything was or it's price. He worked in the JR Grant store until April 1861 when he left to join the war effort.
There are many pictures online of the Grant and Perkins store. That is NOT the JR Grant store.
Sitting next to the Grant statue look up the street to the left. You will see a yellow brick building - The Coatsworth Building. It is the only yellow brick building in downtown Galena. It is Milwaukee brick. Wagons would haul lead to Milwaukee and bring back the bricks. The Coatsworth building has 4 storefronts 120, 122, 124, 126 South Main Street. The JR Grant store was located in 122 S. Main Street. Today it is the only storefront in the building missing a number. They also had a wooden building out back where they worked the hides. It is long gone..
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.