GALVESTON, Texas – After sailing thousands of miles to represent Galveston and Texas during America’s 250th anniversary celebrations, the historic Tall Ship Elissa is returning home Saturday.
- The public can gather at Pier 21 (2100 Harborside Drive) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to welcome the ship back to the Galveston Historic Seaport. Elissa is expected to arrive around noon. Organizers said the homecoming event is free.
- An evening celebration is also planned from 5 to 7 p.m. at Pier 22 (22nd Street and Harborside Drive). The $25 reception will include access to the ship’s deck, opportunities to meet members of the crew, the Ship to Shore interactive exhibit and commemorative merchandise.
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The event marks the end of Elissa’s three-month Galveston 250 Voyage, which included stops in New York City, Boston, Savannah and Pensacola. The voyage was part of a broader series of events honoring the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Elissa left Galveston in June for an approximately 2,500-mile journey — the ship’s longest extended voyage in decades. Before departing, the vessel underwent drydock work that included installation of a new jibboom, a fore-topmast sail and a new diesel engine.
The ship led a fleet of Class A tall ships into New York Harbor on July 4. It was Elissa’s first visit to New York since 1986.
A rare piece of maritime history
Elissa was built in 1877 by Alexander Hall & Co. in Aberdeen, Scotland. The 205-foot, three-masted iron barque spent nearly 90 years as a merchant ship before preservationists rescued it from a scrapyard in Piraeus Harbor, Greece.
The vessel is not a replica. It is one of only a few surviving 19th-century tall ships that still actively sails, according to the Galveston Historical Foundation. Elissa carries 19 sails covering about 11,500 square feet and rises nearly 100 feet above the water at its main mast.
The Galveston Historical Foundation brought Elissa to Texas in 1978. Staff and volunteers completed its restoration by 1982, transforming the ship into a floating museum that could also return to sea.
Today, Elissa is the Official Tall Ship of Texas, a National Historic Landmark and a working symbol of Galveston’s history as a seaport shaped by maritime commerce, immigration and coastal life. The ship welcomes more than 40,000 visitors each year and continues to sail during Gulf Coast sea trials and special voyages.