This site is dedicated to Alfred W "Alfie" Mueller, a life long resident of Galena, Illinois. Alfie was born September 10, 1909, and lived for 95 years until passing away on October 5, 2004.

Throughout his life, Alfie is said to have collected tens of thousands of photographs, lithographs and tin-types documenting Galena's great history. Without the efforts of Alfie, most of these photos would have been lost to history and forgotten. Through his tireless work of collecting and cataloging his finds, we are left with a legacy that will live - and keep Galena's history alive - forever.

Alfie loved to share his collection with others, and we would like to continue his legacy by sharing some of them here with you, along with some others we have come across.

Use the links above to browse through images of Galena from the late 19th and early 20th century. Not a lot is known about who took these photos and why, but all of them originated in the Alfred Mueller collection, and most from a portion of his collection now in the possession of the State of Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

A big thank you is owed to Steve Repp, Terry Miller, and Larry Wiedenheft for their generosity in sharing these photos with us and with you, and many of the photos were scanned by Carole Sullivan and Jan Lavacek, to whom we also owe our gratitude.

Use the links above to view the photographs, arranged by category. Click the thumbnails on each page to see an enlarged version of the photo, and navigate through the enlarged photos by clicking off to the left and right of the photo on the screen.