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Illinois County
Jo Daviess County, Illinois
Galena's Ulysses S. Grant heritage and the Illinois Driftless Area - from Galena's extraordinary preserved 19th-century architecture (Galena's Main Street and hillside neighborhoods preserve one of the finest collections of antebellum commercial and residential architecture in the Midwest - the city's prosperity from lead mining and Mississippi River commerce froze its development in the 1860s, leaving an intact Victorian-era townscape that is now one of Illinois's premier heritage tourism destinations) to the Ulysses S. Grant Home State Historic Site (Grant lived in Galena before the Civil War, returned as a hero, and was presented the house by grateful citizens) and the Illinois Driftless Area's dramatic hills.
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Office: Jo Daviess County Sheriff’s Office – Public Safety Building, 330 North Bench Street, Galena, IL 61036 | (815) 777-2141 | Fax (815) 777-9284; Sheriff Craig Ketelsen, motto “Honor, Duty, and Integrity.” Also houses the Emergency Enhanced 9-1-1 Communications Center, dispatching all fire, medical, and law enforcement calls countywide, plus water patrol and rescue services. Jail capacity 27 inmates.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-20 and SR-84 serve Galena, the county seat, along the Galena River (originally “Fever River”) near the Mississippi, about 15 miles southeast of Dubuque, Iowa.
Notes: Jo Daviess County was founded in 1827, with Galena as its county seat from the start, establishing the area’s first proper courts (previous legal matters had been handled by the Superintendent of Lead Mines). The county sits within the Driftless Area, a rare unglaciated region of steep bluffs and karst topography; Charles Mound, within the county, is genuinely the highest natural point in Illinois at 1,235 feet above sea level.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Jo Daviess County Courthouse – 330 North Bench Street, Galena, IL (oldest section built 1839-1844, late Georgian, reddish brick facade; expanded in 1899, 1970, and 1974-1976 up a slope locally called “Jail Hill”; extensively renovated 2024-2025, reopened December 19, 2025).
Notes: Jo Daviess County holds truly exceptional national historical significance. Native Americans mined lead (galena, the mineral for which the town is named) in the area for over a thousand years before European settlement; the U.S. Congress created a formal lead-mining district here in 1807, and by 1828 Galena’s population reached roughly 10,000 – briefly rivaling Chicago and marking the first major mineral rush in U.S. history. At its peak around 1852, the region produced an extraordinary 87% of American lead output and 10% of the world’s. Galena is genuinely the home of Ulysses S. Grant, who moved there in 1860 to work in his father’s leather-goods store; his home, donated to him by grateful citizens after the Civil War, is preserved as a state historic site. Grant helped organize the county’s first Civil War company, the Jo Daviess Guards, before it mustered into federal service; 2,513 county residents ultimately enlisted in the Union Army. Remarkably, Galena was also home to eight other Union Civil War generals, along with Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, a key Washington power broker instrumental in Grant’s military and political rise. Nearly seven-eighths of Galena’s homes and commercial buildings are today listed on the National Register of Historic Places, making it one of the best-preserved antebellum towns in the Midwest.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Jo Daviess County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via jodaviesscountyil.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Galena Public Library District (Galena) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Ulysses S. Grant Home State Historic Site, the Galena/Jo Daviess County History Museum, Vinegar Hill Historic Lead Mine and Museum, Charles Mound (Illinois’s highest point), and Galena’s remarkably preserved historic downtown are the county’s premier heritage and recreational attractions.
Notes: The genuine, extraordinary national significance of Galena – the lead-mining boomtown that shaped a president and eight other Civil War generals – is among the most historically important local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Jo Daviess County Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via jodaviesscountyil.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via jodaviesscountyil.gov; Jo Daviess County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Jo Daviess County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via jodaviesscountyil.gov.
NOTES: Jo Daviess County is the forty-third county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, extraordinary national significance of Galena’s lead-mining boom and its connection to Grant and eight other Civil War generals is among the most historically important local facts covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Jo Daviess County
Jo Daviess County is northwestern Illinois’s most historically distinguished county – Galena’s preserved antebellum townscape and Ulysses S. Grant’s home make it one of the Midwest’s premier heritage tourism destinations.
Galena (the county seat, population ~3,000) was one of the most prosperous cities in the pre-Civil War Midwest – its lead mining wealth and Mississippi River commerce made it briefly larger than Chicago. Economic stagnation after the Civil War preserved the city’s architectural fabric. Today, Main Street’s brick commercial buildings, hillside Italianate mansions, and Grant’s home draw over one million visitors annually.
The Ulysses S. Grant Home – presented to Grant by Galena citizens after the Civil War – is preserved as a State Historic Site documenting the 18th President’s connection to his Illinois hometown.
The Illinois Driftless Area’s hills – unglaciated, with dramatic ridges and valleys – provide scenery unusual for Illinois.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Jo Daviess County Assessor at 330 N. Bench Street, Galena, IL 61036, phone 815-777-0111. IL residential assessed at 33.33% of market value. Appeal to Board of Review.
Courts & Legal
Jo Daviess County Circuit Court at 330 N. Bench Street, Galena, IL 61036, phone 815-777-0037, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
330 N. Bench St., Galena, IL 61036
(815) 777-0161
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
330 N. Bench St., Galena, IL 61036
(815) 777-0037
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
330 N. Bench St., Galena, IL 61036
(815) 777-0161
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Jo Daviess County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Galena’s historic district, including the Ulysses S. Grant Home State Historic Site, is a significant local historical resource tied to the county’s lead-mining boom era.
Local societies
No dedicated Jo Daviess County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Jo Daviess County Circuit Clerk (15th Judicial Circuit) 330 North Bench Street, Galena, IL 61036 (815) 777-0037
Jo Daviess County is Illinois’ northwesternmost county, home to the historic town of Galena – birthplace of the Illinois lead mining boom and hometown of Ulysses S. Grant. The county courthouse’s oldest section dates to 1839-1844.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Illinois has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code and is not a community property state – it follows common law property principles. Illinois probate is governed by the Probate Act of 1975 (755 ILCS 5/). Two main paths:
Small Estate Affidavit – for estates where personal property (excluding real estate) is valued at $150,000 or less (raised from $100,000 effective August 15, 2025), with no unresolved debts or claims and no real estate involved. No formal court probate is required.
Formal Probate (Independent or Supervised Administration) – required when the estate doesn’t qualify for the small estate affidavit. Most Illinois probate cases proceed under Independent Administration, letting the estate representative act without prior court approval for most routine actions.
Step 2: filing for formal probate
File the decedent’s original will (if one exists) with the Jo Daviess County Circuit Clerk, where the decedent resided at death.
Petition the court to open the estate and appoint an executor (if there’s a will) or an administrator (if intestate).
The court issues Letters of Office (Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration) appointing the representative.
Publish notice to creditors and unknown heirs as required by Illinois law.
Under Independent Administration, the representative marshals assets, pays valid debts and taxes, and distributes the remaining estate without needing court approval for each step.
File a final accounting or closing documents to formally close the estate.
NOTE: Jo Daviess County requires E-Filing for all civil pleadings, and now accepts E-Filed documents in criminal departments as well.
What it costs
Illinois imposes its own state estate tax on estates valued above $4 million, with rates up to 16%. There is no Illinois inheritance tax.
Filing fees vary by county – confirm current amounts with the Jo Daviess County Circuit Clerk.
Most uncontested probate proceedings in Illinois can be completed within about a year.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
23 N. Bench St., Galena, IL 61036
(815) 777-2141
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
330 N. Bench St., Galena, IL 61036
(815) 777-0161
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
330 N. Bench St., Galena, IL 61036
(815) 777-0161
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Jo Daviess County Health Dept
(815) 777-0208
IL DCFS — Freeport
(815) 235-0550
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Galena Stauss Hospital
galenahospital.org (Galena)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Jo Daviess County Health Department – 9483 US Route [20], Galena, IL 61036 | (815) 777-0263.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Galena
Population: 21,000
Area: 601 sq mi
Established: 1827
Tier: 3
Public Records
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