Maj. Joseph Hamilton Daveiss, 1774-1811.

(Note the accurate spelling of his name here.) Photo courtesy Galena History Museum.

Jo Daviess County, Illinois, is one of several places in the United States named in honor of Maj. Joseph Hamilton Daveiss, a Kentucky attorney who died in the Battle of Tippecanoe.

Jo Daviess County, home to just 22,000 people, welcomes thousands more visitors each year. Residents and guests alike enjoy a setting that blends history and architecture with scenic terrain, picturesque farms, and friendly towns and villages.

The mix of valleys, ridges, and Mississippi River blufflands offers a variety of habitats to explore from a variety of perspectives, birding to botanizing, bicycling to hot-air ballooning.

No other part of the state has resources like this, cared for by a citizenry so keen on stewardship.

A Sense of History at Every Turn

Our towns and villlages developed in the 19th Century in spurts of prosperity which led to the creation of many structures and districts now listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

You'll also sense our heritage at U.S. Grant's Home and the Old Market House in Galena, as well as the reconstructed Apple River Fort in Elizabeth, all managed as historic sites by the State of Illinois.

Or you can sense an older chapter of our history by visiting sites of Native American habitation (Casper, Keough, and Wapello) now owned and managed by the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation.

• Galena History Museum
• Jo Daviess History at Rootsweb

A Fortunate Turn of Glaciers

The 619 square miles in the northwest corner of Illinois that is now Jo Daviess County escaped the leveling effects of continental glaciers. Each advancing wave of glaciers bypassed this area.

Thus the ancient land surface has been exposed to essentially continuous weathering and erosion, forming the rugged topography of valleys and ridges we enjoy today.

People refer to Jo Daviess County as part of the Driftless Area. That term refers to an unglaciated terrain in a region that had many glacial episodes.

• More about the Driftless Area

Destinations to Explore

For visitor information, please contact the Galena/Jo Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau at 877-Go Galena or visit their website at www.galena.org.