NEWS FROM GALVESTON HISTORICAL FOUNDATION
CONTACT: Molly Dannenmaier at 409-771-5105
Oct. 23, 2008

Galveston Attractions Reopening

GALVESTON – Two of the island’s most popular tourist attractions will reopen for public tours Saturday, Oct. 25, for the first time since Hurricane Ike.

The Bishop’s Palace, on Broadway at 14th Street, will be open from noon to 4 p.m., with guided tours on the hour.

The 1877 tall ship Elissa, moored at Pier 22 just off Harborside Drive, will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Designated as a National Historic Landmark, the Bishop’s Palace has been listed as one of the nation’s most important Victorian buildings by the American Institute of Architects. The soaring steel-and-stone “Chateauesque" structure was completed in 1892.

The three-masted, iron-hulled barque Elissa was built in 1877 in Aberdeen, Scotland and is said to take her name from the epic poem The Aeneid. Elissa is one of only three ships of her age in the United States that still sails. She is a National Historic Landmark and the Official Tall Ship of Texas. Her volunteer crew has continued to meet regularly to clean up her pier in the wake of Hurricane Ike and to continue their regular all-day Saturday seamanship training sessions.

Tickets to Elissa, normally $8, will be discounted to $5 because the Texas Seaport Museum, usually part of the ticket price, has not yet reopened, but access to the museum shop is included.

For more information about the Bishop's Palace, call 409-765-7834. For more information about Elissa, call 409-763-1877. Or visit the GHF Web site, www.galvestonhistory.org, where the “Press” section contains galleries of press-ready downloadable photographs of Galveston Historical Foundation properties.