Galena, an incorporated city of the second class in Cherokee county, is located near the southeast corner of the county on Short creek and at the junction of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas and St. Louis & San Francisco railroads. There is also an electric line to Joplin, Carthage and Webb City, Mo. The first railroad was completed to this point in 1871, but the town was not started until after the discovery of lead ore in the spring of 1877. The Galena Mining & Smelting company purchased 120 acres of land and laid out the town. Lots sold rapidly, and within two months the population numbered over 2,000. A postoffice was established soon after the town was platted, and in May, 1871, Galena was incorporated as a city of the third class, with G. W. Webb as the first mayor. The first school was taught in the winter of 1877-78 in a building that had been erected for mercantile purposes, and the first regular school house—a frame structure of four rooms—was built in 1879. On May 16, 1879, the first number of the Galena Miner made its appearance. This was the first newspaper.

For some time after Galena was started, the buildings were of that "balloon" type so generally found in new mining towns, and a large part of the population was composed of individuals as "rough" as the buildings. Saloons flourished, the gambler was early on the ground, drunken brawls and shooting scrapes were common. But this has been changed. The Galena of the present day is equipped with substantial business buildings, waterworks, electric lights, a fire department, a sewer system, well paved streets, good sidewalks, a telephone exchange, an electric street railway, modern public school buildings, good hotels, well stocked mercantile establishments, and a number of fine residences. Lead and zinc mining and smelting are the principal industries, but there are also foundries, stamping works, grain elevators, a novelty works, a broom factory, etc. The city has 3 banks, 1 daily and 2 weekly newspapers, an opera house, and lodges of the leading fraternal organizations. The population in 1910 was 6,096. Empire City was annexed to Galena in 1907.