Haunted Harbor Tours

Step aboard Galveston Historical Foundation’s SEAGULL II for the original Haunted Harbor Tour through Galveston Bay. Led by #GalvestonHistory guides, guests will learn about the haunted history of the island’s historic waters. The 90-minute tour features historically ac......More

Step aboard Galveston Historical Foundation’s SEAGULL II for the original Haunted Harbor Tour through Galveston Bay. Led by #GalvestonHistory guides, guests will learn about the haunted history of the island’s historic waters. The 90-minute tour features historically accurate accounts researched by Galveston Historical Foundation staff. Cruises depart from the Galveston Historic Seaport at Pier 22.

Galveston Historic Seaport, 2200 Harborside Drive, Galveston, TX, 77550, United States

Trick or Treat at the 1838 Menard House

Galveston’s oldest residence, the 1838 Menard House, opens its gates to trick-or-treaters for history-making fun! Individual bags of candy will be given to young guests with free admission on the property. Please note: the house will not be open for tours.

1838 Menard House, 1605 33rd Street, Galveston, TX, 77550, United States

Sunsets at the Seaport

Galveston Historic Seaport invites you to linger a little longer this October through a series of special Sundowns at the Seaport evenings. These golden-hour gatherings offer the perfect vantage point for watching the sun sink behind the 1877 ELISSA with discounted or c......More

Galveston Historic Seaport invites you to linger a little longer this October through a series of special Sundowns at the Seaport evenings. These golden-hour gatherings offer the perfect vantage point for watching the sun sink behind the 1877 ELISSA with discounted or complimentary admission to explore before relaxing on the pier with a craft beer, water, or Coke, and a snack in hand. It’s a laid-back coastal celebration of fall’s color, light, and history over the historic harbor’s waters. Admission is 1/2 off for ELISSA access after 5 p.m., except where noted. The closing times listed below are the “last ticket sold/gate closed” times, with the site remaining open for an additional 30 minutes after that. Full-price admission is also available for those who want to access our Ship to Shore exhibit, which includes ELISSA access.OCTOBER SCHEDULE AND PROMOTIONS– Friday, October 10 – Open until 7 p.m.– Saturday, October 11 – Open until 7 p.m.– Friday, October 17 – Open until 9:30 (FREE ENTRY FOR PARTY ON THE PIER – FIREWORKS AT 9 PM)– Saturday, October 18 – Open until 8:00 (FREE ENTRY FOR FALL FEST)– Friday, October 24 – Open until 7 p.m.– Saturday, October 25 – Open until 7 p.m.– Friday, October 31 – Open until 6:30 p.m.– Saturday, November 1 – Open until 6:30 p.m.

Galveston Historic Seaport, 2200 Harborside Drive, Galveston, TX, 77550, United States

Basement to Attic Tours of the 1892 Bishop's Palace

Offering participants a rare look into parts of the National Historic Landmark that are typically off-limits, the 1892 Bishop’s Palace Basement to Attic Tours feature Mrs. Gresham’s studio. An exclusive third-floor view to a truly one of a kind panoramic of the Gulf of ......More

Offering participants a rare look into parts of the National Historic Landmark that are typically off-limits, the 1892 Bishop’s Palace Basement to Attic Tours feature Mrs. Gresham’s studio. An exclusive third-floor view to a truly one of a kind panoramic of the Gulf of Mexico. Tickets are limited to 20 total guests and are $40 per person. Built of stone and steel for the railroad magnate Walter Gresham and his family, this famous house was designed by Nicholas Clayton, Galveston’s premier Victorian-era architect. Bishop’s Palace is recognized as one of America’s finest examples of Victorian exuberance and Gilded-Age extravagance and is listed by the U. S. Department of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark. The Bishop’s Palace Basement to Attic Tours are the best opportunity the public has to view all floors of the historic property.

1892 Bishop’s Palace, 1402 Broadway Avenue J, Galveston, TX, 77550, United States

Sunsets at the Seaport

Galveston Historic Seaport invites you to linger a little longer this October through a series of special Sundowns at the Seaport evenings. These golden-hour gatherings offer the perfect vantage point for watching the sun sink behind the 1877 ELISSA with discounted or c......More

Galveston Historic Seaport invites you to linger a little longer this October through a series of special Sundowns at the Seaport evenings. These golden-hour gatherings offer the perfect vantage point for watching the sun sink behind the 1877 ELISSA with discounted or complimentary admission to explore before relaxing on the pier with a craft beer, water, or Coke, and a snack in hand. It’s a laid-back coastal celebration of fall’s color, light, and history over the historic harbor’s waters. Admission is 1/2 off for ELISSA access after 5 p.m., except where noted. The closing times listed below are the “last ticket sold/gate closed” times, with the site remaining open for an additional 30 minutes after that. Full-price admission is also available for those who want to access our Ship to Shore exhibit, which includes ELISSA access.OCTOBER SCHEDULE AND PROMOTIONS– Friday, October 10 – Open until 7 p.m.– Saturday, October 11 – Open until 7 p.m.– Friday, October 17 – Open until 9:30 (FREE ENTRY FOR PARTY ON THE PIER – FIREWORKS AT 9 PM)– Saturday, October 18 – Open until 8:00 (FREE ENTRY FOR FALL FEST)– Friday, October 24 – Open until 7 p.m.– Saturday, October 25 – Open until 7 p.m.– Friday, October 31 – Open until 6:30 p.m.– Saturday, November 1 – Open until 6:30 p.m.

Galveston Historic Seaport, 2200 Harborside Drive, Galveston, TX, 77550, United States

Supreme Sacrifice

Join public historian Lily Comstive as she explores Galveston’s deep connections to World War I and the ways the island community chose to honor its fallen. In her lecture, “Supreme Sacrifice: Remembering the Great War in Galveston, Texas,” Lily will discuss the history......More

Join public historian Lily Comstive as she explores Galveston’s deep connections to World War I and the ways the island community chose to honor its fallen. In her lecture, “Supreme Sacrifice: Remembering the Great War in Galveston, Texas,” Lily will discuss the history and meaning of the city’s memorial efforts—including the Honor Roll Monument along the Seawall, the Memorial Oak plaques once lining Broadway, and the 2018 historical marker at the University of Texas Medical Branch campus. Drawing on her ongoing research, Lily examines how Galveston residents responded to both the outbreak and conclusion of the war, revealing the values and motivations behind these acts of remembrance. Her presentation highlights the significance of reinstating the original Memorial Oak plaques on the island to fulfill their intended purpose: honoring and remembering the seventy-six Galveston soldiers who gave their lives during the Great War. You are welcome to bring your own lunch to enjoy. Lunch will not be provided. Virtual tickets are also available for guests who would like to view the livestream. A link will be sent prior to the event with instructions on viewing. You are welcome to bring your own lunch to enjoy. Lunch will not be provided. Current GHF member tickets are free for in-person or livestream attendance as part of their #GalvestonHistory+ account. Access will start at 11:15 a.m. on the day of the presentation. ABOUT LILY COMSTIVE Lily Comstive is a third-semester Public History graduate student at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. She has gained extensive hands-on experience through her work with the Stone Fort Museum, the East Texas Research Center, and a variety of local museums and programs. Her expertise spans collections assessment, historic preservation, archaeology, archival research, oral history projects, and the development of interpretive materials for museum exhibits. Lily earned her B.S. in History from East Texas Baptist University, where she served as the History and Political Science Department tutor, facilitating individual and group study sessions, research support, and test preparation for students. Currently pursuing her Master of Arts in Public History, Lily has begun research and writing for her master’s thesis. She completed her practicum as the Edward L. Protz Historic Preservation Intern with Galveston Historical Foundation, where her work laid the groundwork for her thesis and deepened her commitment to historic preservation and public engagement.

1859 Ashton Villa, 2328 Broadway Avenue J, Galveston, 77550, United States

Melting Point: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land

Join author Rachel Cockerell as she discusses her recent book, Melting Point: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land, about the Galveston Plan. Refreshments and a book signing will follow the lecture. This event is presented free of charge and is presented b......More

Join author Rachel Cockerell as she discusses her recent book, Melting Point: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land, about the Galveston Plan. Refreshments and a book signing will follow the lecture. This event is presented free of charge and is presented by Congregation B’nai Israel and Galveston Historical Foundation. ABOUT MELTING POINTOn June 7, 1907, a ship packed with Russian Jews set sail for a promised land: not Jerusalem or New York, as many on board had dreamed, but Texas. This was the beginning of the Galveston Plan, a forgotten episode in US history in which ten thousand Jews fled the persecution and brutality of the Russian Empire for the Gulf Coast. In the wake of a dramatic split in the early Zionist movement, a group of rebels impatient for an alternative to Palestine formed a rival organization. Their motto: “If we cannot get the Holy Land, we can make another land holy.” Led in their search for a temporary homeland by the renowned novelist Israel Zangwill and by Rachel Cockerell’s great-grandfather, David Jochelmann, they scoured the Earth before reluctantly settling on Galveston. Zangwill feared the Jewish identity would be lost in the great American melting pot, but he saw no other hope. In Melting Point, Cockerell weaves together diaries, letters, newspaper articles, and interviews in a highly inventive style. Constructed entirely of primary sources, with one flowing into the next, the book lets long-dead voices reanimate, jostle for space, and converge to tell their stories with a novelistic vividness and detail. We follow Zangwill and the Jochelmann family through two world wars and to London, New York, and Jerusalem as their lives intertwine with those of memorable figures of the twentieth century―Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, and more. Melting Point asks what it means to belong, what can be salvaged from the obscured past, and whether a promised land can ever live up to its promises. ABOUT RACHEL COCKERELLRachel Cockerell is a writer and historian, born and raised in London. Her first book, Melting Point, is an ‘experimental’ history about her family’s search for a promised land. It centers around the Galveston Movement, a long-forgotten project that brought 10,000 Russian Jews to Texas pre-WWI. They were led by her great-grandfather. Five years of research took her to Ohio, Michigan, Texas, New York, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Melting Point is out now in the UK, where it’s longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfction and was a New York Times Most Anticipated Book selection. It was published in the US by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2025. Cockerell has spoken about her work on the BBC, CNN, MSNBC, and at TEDx.

Congregation B’nai Israel, 3008 Avenue O, Galveston, TX, 77550, United States

Smarty Pints Trivia Nights

PLEASE NOTE: WE WILL NOT HAVE SMARTY PINTS IN DECEMBER BUT WILL RESUME IN JANUARY OF 2026. Think you’re the know-it-all of Galveston? Come flex those brain muscles and join us for a series of trivia nights supporting Galveston Historical Foundation and the Tall Ship ELI......More

PLEASE NOTE: WE WILL NOT HAVE SMARTY PINTS IN DECEMBER BUT WILL RESUME IN JANUARY OF 2026. Think you’re the know-it-all of Galveston? Come flex those brain muscles and join us for a series of trivia nights supporting Galveston Historical Foundation and the Tall Ship ELISSA!Held on the second Thursday of each month, our Smarty Pints Trivia Nights are all-ages evenings held at the Galveston Historic Seaport’s ELISSA Room. Craft beer and snacks will be available for purchase and we’ll open the gates at 6 for dockside access before heading up to test your smarts at 6:30.Bring your besties, your brainiacs, and maybe even your “lucky guessers.” With categories ranging from local history to pop culture, there’s something for everyone.

Galveston Historic Seaport, 2200 Harborside Drive, Galveston, TX, 77550, United States

Galveston Historic House Specialist Continuing Education Course

Ready to level up your historic property realty sales and marketing? Presented in partnership with Galveston Association of REALTORS® and Texas REALTORS, this continuing education course familiarizes realtors with Galveston’s architecture and history, as well as the inf......More

Ready to level up your historic property realty sales and marketing? Presented in partnership with Galveston Association of REALTORS® and Texas REALTORS, this continuing education course familiarizes realtors with Galveston’s architecture and history, as well as the influences that have shaped our island’s heritage. This course provides an introduction to the basic architectural styles and forms commonly found on Galveston Island. Galveston boasts unique aspects of the built environment as a coastal community with over 150 years of development and redevelopment. The program will include an overview of historic preservation terms and processes, as well as important local, state, and federal programs that realtors may encounter. It will also address questions frequently encountered by realtors when dealing with the sale of historic properties in a hurricane zone. The overall project goal is to make all realtors more familiar with Galveston’s architecture and history, as well as the influences that have shaped our island’s heritage. Successful completion of the course will enable participants to sell and market on the island more efficiently and effectively.

Menard Hall, 3302 Avenue O, Galveston, TX, 77550, United States

Basement to Attic Tours of the 1892 Bishop's Palace

Offering participants a rare look into parts of the National Historic Landmark that are typically off-limits, the 1892 Bishop’s Palace Basement to Attic Tours feature Mrs. Gresham’s studio. An exclusive third-floor view to a truly one of a kind panoramic of the Gulf of ......More

Offering participants a rare look into parts of the National Historic Landmark that are typically off-limits, the 1892 Bishop’s Palace Basement to Attic Tours feature Mrs. Gresham’s studio. An exclusive third-floor view to a truly one of a kind panoramic of the Gulf of Mexico. Tickets are limited to 20 total guests and are $40 per person. Built of stone and steel for the railroad magnate Walter Gresham and his family, this famous house was designed by Nicholas Clayton, Galveston’s premier Victorian-era architect. Bishop’s Palace is recognized as one of America’s finest examples of Victorian exuberance and Gilded-Age extravagance and is listed by the U. S. Department of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark. The Bishop’s Palace Basement to Attic Tours are the best opportunity the public has to view all floors of the historic property.

1892 Bishop’s Palace, 1402 Broadway Avenue J, Galveston, TX, 77550, United States