The Elissa

When you come to visit Galveston, one of the historic items you don’t want to miss is the ‘Elissa.’  The Elissa is one of a few surviving Tall Ships that has been restored and continues to sail the Gulf of Mexico.

This beautiful ship was built in 1877 in Aberdeen Scotland by the well respected ship builders, Alexander Hall & Company.  She measures 205 feet in length and 99 feet high.  During her 90 year tenure she carried cargos to every port around the world. 

In 1961, before she could be destroyed, maritime archeologist Peter Throckmorton recognized her and purchased the Elissa in Piraeus Greece.  In 1975 The Galveston Historic Foundation purchased her for $40,000 and sent a group of restoration volunteers to Greece to make her sea worthy and sail her back to Galveston.  In 1978 the Elissa was placed on The National Register of Historic Places, she is the first object granted this status while outside the territorial limits of the United States.

In 2005 Governor Rick Perry signs a resolution to make the Elissa the official tall ship of Texas.  Today she stands proudly in harbor at Pier 21, port of Galveston and is part of the Texas Seaport Museum.  She is maintained and sailed by skilled volunteers as she continues to remind all that the arts of the age of sail are not forgotten.