Galena to dedicate garden to friend of Lincoln's, Grant's

GALENA, Ill. (AP) - Galena will celebrate the revitalization of a downtown park and name it for a native son.

A dedication of interpretive signs by Galena city officials and others will be Thursday.

The park will be named for Elihu (EHL'-ih-hew) Benjamin Washburne . Washburne was a U.S. congressman and served briefly as secretary of state for another Galena resident, President Ulysses S. Grant .

Costumed Washburne and Abraham Lincoln interpreters will be on hand.

Washburne Garden is next to the Peck Building on Main Street. Washburne had a law office in the Peck Building in 1845 and later owned it.

The University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners and the Galena Belles Questers No. 1304 worked with the city on planning, commemorating and maintaining the garden.

Galena is 160 miles (257 km) northwest of Chicago.