GALVESTON – A piece of living history has left the dock. The Official Tall Ship of Texas, the 1877 Tall Ship ELISSA, sets sail from Galveston this June to join Sail250, a global gathering of tall ships and military vessels celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.
Fresh off scheduled drydock maintenance — which included a new jibboom, a new sail for the fore topmast, and a new John Deere PowerTech™ 6135SFM85 diesel engine — ELISSA is now underway on an approximately 2,500-mile voyage, her longest extended journey in decades.
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“ELISSA is not simply traveling to commemorate a milestone, she is doing what she was built to do — connect communities through maritime history,” said Will Wright, chief creative officer for the Galveston Historical Foundation. “This project reflects decades of stewardship and investment, and it reinforces our commitment to ensuring that Galveston’s history continues to be told on a national stage.”
Leading the fleet into New York Harbor
ELISSA, a National Historic Landmark, will be in New York July 3–7 and lead fellow Class A tall ships into New York Harbor on July 4. It’s billed as one of the largest flotillas of historic vessels and sailing ships assembled from around the world. She is among the oldest vessels expected at the New York tall ship gathering.
Built in 1877 by Alexander Hall & Co. in Aberdeen, Scotland, ELISSA is a three-masted, iron-hulled barque — square sails on the fore and main masts, fore-and-aft sails on the mizzen — and one of the few authentic 19th-century tall ships still actively sailing today. She measures 205 feet from stern to jibboom, stands 99 feet, 9 inches at the main mast, and carries 19 sails covering approximately 11,500 square feet — more than one-quarter of an acre.
Unlike many vessels seen at waterfront festivals, ELISSA is not a replica. She is a surviving merchant ship whose nearly 90-year commercial career took her to ports around the world before Galveston preservationists rescued her from a scrapyard in Piraeus Harbor, Greece.
A revised voyage across America’s coastline
Following updated routing, ELISSA’s itinerary has been adjusted to reflect strategic port calls along the East Coast and Gulf Coast. ELISSA will join a fleet of international tall ships for a massive peacetime gathering in Boston Harbor. Stops in Yorktown, Virginia and Portsmouth, Virginia have been removed from the schedule. In their place, Savannah, Georgia and Pensacola, Florida have been added as key ports as the ship begins her return journey to Galveston.
The current confirmed public route includes:
- New York, New York | July 3–7
- Boston, Massachusetts | July 11–15
- Savannah, Georgia | July 23-26
- Pensacola, Florida | August 6–9
After completing her participation in Sail250 events in the Northeast, ELISSA will begin her return voyage south, with port calls in Savannah and Pensacola before she completes her journey back to Galveston.
At each stop, the Galveston Historical Foundation will activate ELISSA as a traveling classroom and cultural ambassador through public deck tours,
“For Galveston, the America250 voyage is both a national showcase and a statement of identity,” said Dwayne Jones, executive director and chief executive officer for GHF. “As a historic port city whose story is deeply tied to maritime commerce, immigration, and coastal life, Galveston will be represented on a global stage by a vessel that has become one of its most visible and meaningful ambassadors.”
A living ambassador, not a museum piece
Today, ELISSA is a fully functional sailing vessel operated by the Galveston Historical Foundation at the Galveston Historic Seaport. For nearly 50 years, GHF has led the ship’s rescue, restoration, and ongoing management, investing in the preservation, maintenance, and crew training required to keep the vessel seaworthy and under sail.
ELISSA continues to sail annually during Gulf Coast sea trials and welcomes thousands of visitors each year for tours, education programs, and special events interpreting Galveston’s role in maritime trade, immigration, and U.S. history.