Historical Marker
Galena
Stone County · Missouri
Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission, 1957
This marker stands at the far end of the bridge that became Galena's landmark. The Y-Bridge opened over the James River in 1927, an Art Deco open-spandrel arch named for its shape like the letter Y, built to carry Routes 13 and 44, today's 413 and 248. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 23, 1991. A newer bridge to the north now carries the traffic, and the Y-Bridge is closed to vehicles and open to walkers, so visitors park off the shoulder of Route 248 and walk up the path to the sign.
What the plaque says
Galena Seat of justice for Stone County, Galena lies 1,016 feet above sea level on the James River in whose beautiful, crystal waters the explorer H. R. Schoolcraft reported seeing lumps of galena on his 1818-19 trip in the Ozarks. First known as Jamestown, the town was originally settled in the 1830's to the south. After the county, named for pioneer Judge W. T. Stone, was organized, 1851, the present location and name were adopted. Stone County lies in the oldest mountain region in the U.S. In 7000 B.C., prehistoric Ozark Bluff Dweller Indians were living in the area. In modern times the county was part of the territory claimed by the Osage until 1808. Delaware Indians, between their land cession in Cape Girardeau County, 1818, and their final Missouri land cession, 1829, lived along the James River. In early days the county benefited from the Wilderness Road, a north-south Indian and pioneer trail. Near Reeds Spring was Linchpin Campground. The Butterfield Mail route of 1858-61, soon called the Wire Road, cut across northwest Stone County. In 1904 the White River R.R. (Mo. Pac.) arrived. (See other side) Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission, 1957 Galena (Continued from other side) Galena, in the Missouri Ozarks, serves as seat of a county of the Shepherd of the Hills region, an area famed for its beauty, legends, and folklore. During the Civil War, guerrilla raids halted growth, but post war years brought development as a resort and farming land. Galena to Branson float trips on the James and the White rivers became famous, and Stone County developed into one of the state's top tomato producers, the crop being called "Red Gold of the Hills." Points of interest in Stone and adjacent Taney County are the Shepherd of the Hills Country with its many sites associated with Harold Bell Wright's 1907 novel; Table Rock Dam, Lake, and resort area; and Fairy, Marvel, and Old Spanish caves. Among Stone County's settlers were such accomplished pioneers as John B. Williams, who opened one of Missouri's early powder mills, 1835, at Cape Fair; Joseph Phillabert, Indian trader; Jacob Yocum, Schoolcraft's guide; and later, Truman S. Powell, editor, legislator, speleologist. Representative Dewey Short is a native of Galena, and here lived folklorist May Kennedy McCord as a youth. Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission, 1957
Where it stands
36.80552, -93.46057 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Marvel Cave (Silver Dollar City) — 12 miA sinkhole cave west of Branson that was mined for guano under a false name, toured by candle from 1894, and turned into Silver Dollar City by the family that leased it in 1950.
- Shepherd of the Hills Homestead (Old Matt's Cabin) — 13 miThe Ross homestead above Mutton Hollow, which Harold Bell Wright's 1907 novel turned into Old Matt's Cabin, drawing readers into the White River hills from the year it appeared.
- Ralph Foster Museum — 18 miThe College of the Ozarks museum named for the Springfield radio pioneer behind KWTO and the Ozark Jubilee, home of the Beverly Hillbillies truck and a Benton painting.
- Wilson's Creek National Battlefield — 22 miThe farm valley southwest of Springfield where the first major Civil War battle west of the Mississippi was fought on August 10, 1861, and where Nathaniel Lyon became the first Union general killed.