Galva

History

Cousins William L. Wiley (1820–1900) and James Wiley (1817–1886) founded Galva in 1854. The name Galva honors the Swedish immigrants of nearby Bishop Hill and refers to Gävle, Sweden which is the town's sister city. Today around 80% of the town has Scandinavian ancestry. Galva was a railroad town. Galva was laid out along the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (Burlington Route) with the help of Bishop Hill trustees who invested heavily in Galva. This was the first of three rail lines to locate there. This group was formed in 1852 and ran a line from Aurora, Illinois to Galesburg, Illinois. A second branch of the Burlington Route later also came through. Later the Peoria and Rock Island Railroad (Rock Island Railroad) came through Galva. Several Amtrak lines run through the town, including the California Zephyr and Southwest Chief, but none stop in Galva. A station is located 10 miles north in Kewanee for the Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, and 25 miles south in Galesburg for all trains.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Galva has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  339
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  339
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  331
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  271
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  266
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  266
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  261
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  260

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2023-11-15
  1 km SSW of Standard, Illinois