A walk through the Victorian grandeur and hurricane-scarred resilience of Galveston Island, once the wealthiest city in Texas and the largest port west of New Orleans. From the iron-front buildings of the Strand to the sculptural tree carvings born from Hurricane Ike's destruction, this tour traces how a barrier island city was humbled by nature and rebuilt itself — twice.

Stops on This Tour (7)

1. 1
   The Strand Once called the Wall Street of the Southwest — Galveston's iron-front commercial district from the 1870s and 1880s
2. 2
   Tall Ship Elissa An 1877 iron-hulled barque — one of the oldest sailing vessels still afloat
3. 3
   Bishop's Palace A Victorian castle built in 1892 by Colonel Walter Gresham
4. 4
   Moody Mansion The 1895 limestone mansion of the Moody family, whose banking and insurance empire helped rebuild Galveston
5. 5
   Tree Sculptures Massive sculptures carved from the trunks of oak trees killed by Hurricane Ike in 2008
6. 6
   Pleasure Pier Galveston's beachfront amusement district, rebuilt on the site of the original 1943 Pleasure Pier
7. 7
   Seawall Boulevard The ten-mile concrete seawall that saved Galveston from future destruction

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