Galveston History Tour Guide

Name: Galveston History Tour Guide
Address: 2217 Strand, Suite 107-B, Galveston, TX, 77550, US
Telephone: +14093707350
Price range: $
Rating: 5

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Galveston History Tour Guide

My history tours are about the stories.... To make you feel as if you'v e been there, or as if you are there now. Galveston history is incredibly colorful W.L.
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George Douglas Lee is a BOI. Born On Island. Yes, born and raised on this eccentric, colorful Island of Misfortune as it was named by the first explorer to document the adventure, Cabeza De Vaca (Cowhead), when he was washed ashore and encountered the bizarre (and cannibalistic Karankawa Indians. Then Jean LaFitte established a headquarters here after being expelled from Lousiana. He called it Cam

pece. The Island's first settlement began to develop, then LaFitte burned it to the ground when he was ordered to leave Texas. Two con-men named Michael B. Menard and Samuel May Williams used a phony Mexican land grant to begin laying out a city on the sandbar, and Galveston was born, named for a Spanish count, Bernardo de Galvez, who never saw it. The Civil War came, and Galveston seceded with the rest of the State, was captured, then returned to Confederate hands in a strange battle, and Juneteenth was born here in 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger arrived to read orders freeing the slaves, amongst other commands. The growth came rapidly, continuing until Galveston was the most modern city in the state, with electricity, telephone, telegraph, street cars and wealth. Nature brought Galveston 's pre-eminence to an end on September 8, 1900, when a killer hurricane savagely destroyed the city, killing between 6,000 and 10,000 lives. But Galveston came back, not in its former glory, but resilient. Two Italian barbers from Sicily, Rosario and Salvatore Maceo came to Galveston in the twenties from Louisiana, and quickly took over the local gangs and profited from prohibition with illegal alcohol smuggling, gambling, drugs and prostitution. Slot machines were everywhere. The first air-conditioned nightclub in the U.S., The Hollywood Club, was built on sixty-first and Avenue S, until shut down by the IRS. It was then that the Balinese Room, a nightclub, restaurant and gambling palace stretching six hundred feet out into the Gulf of Mexcio, became the Maceo's headquarters, symbolic of what was then called the Free State of Galveston. The Maceos brought big name entertainers to the Island, the most delicious cuisine and drink;, plus elegant interior design, and for a time, Galveston Island resembled Havana, Cuba. In fact, Bugsy Siegel came to the Island for a week to study the Maceo's operations and he recreated it in the desert of Nevada, and Galveston became the model for Las Vegas. However, a decline began when Sam Maceo died in 1952, followed shortly by the death of his brother Rose. Moody, Jr. died in 1955, and Galveston began to follow them all to a limbo, not unlike Blanche Dubois in Streetcar Named Desire. The gambling empire was officially busted in 1958, but by then it was only a seedy shadow of its former glory. Hurricane Carla slammed into the Island on September 11, 1961, and left Galveston shell shocked. BOI George Mitchell began to invest in improving Galveston in the 1970's, and it became a tourist destination, a far cry from its previous position as a leading city. Hurricane Ike dealt another severe blow to the city, but as always, it came back, and is as you experience it today. George Lee is old enough to have heard these stories as a child, when much of it was still happening. He has researched Island History, to separate truth from fiction, myth from reality and delve into the legends, presenting them to make you feel as if you were, and are there. Call 409 370-7350, as all tours are scheduled by appointment. You will see a film made by Entertainment One, for the History Channel, now airing on the Smithsonian Channel, in which Mr. Lee is a featured on-camera narrator, then tour the very locations seen in the film as they are today, many changed very little from the 19th century. Film and Tour are scheduled by appointment. Call 409 370-7350. $20.00 per person

08/08/2021

Galveston - we are so photogenic! A big thank you to The Woodlands Lifestyle Magazine and the fine photography by Eat With Rads. Thanks for the coverage. Let us know next time you visit!

07/19/2021

Learn it and live it - history for your to make. Enjoy!

On an Island jam-packed with artifacts and treasures of the days long past, one particularly large and beloved relic is a must-see -- The Elissa, the Official Tall Ship of Texas. Now, sailing novices, history buffs and gutsy landlubbers enamored by the sea have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sa...

04/17/2021

History lovers - this is it. Welcome back Galveston Historical Homes Tour

12/14/2020

Have you ever thought the best architects of Galveston Island have come and (alas) gone?

New in the G.Lee Gallery "Gingerbread House" by Nina struthers. A beautiful rendering of one of Galveston's enchanting homes.

10/20/2020

And don't miss Galveston when you are out on the road.

10/08/2020

Those were the days....when the women wore long (!) dresses to the beach and the men wore suits (!)

: "Scene showing entrance to bath house and the famous seawall boulevard."

09/27/2020

Read "The Storm After" by Gina Hooten Popp. You'll be grateful for today's weather reporting advancements.

09/11/2020

On this day 120 years ago, a massive hurricane roared ashore in Galveston. The Galveston Orphans Home was damaged heavily during the storm: the central structure, containing Rosenberg Memorial Hall, collapsed into the building, leaving a gaping hole in the eastern facade. http://ow.ly/pH0650Birux

12/02/2019

Rebecca Stoddart Brown was a beautiful woman, ten years Mr. Brown’s junior. She was born on this day in 1831, in Philadelphia to a prominent family. Her home here on Galveston Island, Ashton Villa, is named after her uncle, a Revolutionary War hero named Lieutenant Isaac Ashton. She moved to Texas with her family when she was just a child. She met Mr. Brown on the train as he was going to New York on business and she was going to Philadelphia to visit family. They married in 1846, and first lived over Mr. Brown’s first hardware store on Market before they built Ashton Villa in 1859. She died in 1907, and is buried in the Brown family plot in the Old Episcopal Cemetery on Broadway.

Do you know anyone who shares a birthday with Mrs. Brown? Tag them in the comments below and wish them a very Happy Birthday from GHF! 🎈🎉

11/17/2019

G.Lee Galleryis delighted that author and historian Kimber Fountain, Author has joined the Gallery We continue with Kimber's expertise to provide the Island's best history tour!

Slangin’ Books at G. Lee Gallery until 3 today! 📚 📖 🤓😊

09/18/2019

Dear History Buffs - It seems that it is now my turn to join Galveston's history. For those of you who are near please join my wife Brenda, son Colin and his family for my viewing 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m., Monday, September 23 at Malloy and Son, 3028 Broadway and my funeral 1:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 24, at First Presbyterian, 1903 Church Street, Galveston. You can not know how much I enjoyed each of you - your curiosity and enthusiasm for Galveston history. When Brenda would ask "how did the tour go"? My answer was always "It was great, they were great people."

08/31/2019

That's artist Constance Lynn Paul - painting in a vineyard. Some artists have all the luck.

06/17/2019

HTX+ explores the turn-of-the-century Victorian homes that have defined the Island for over a century.

06/13/2019

🎉 Happy Birthday Philip! 🎉

Philip Gresham was born June 13, 1885, youngest child of Walter and Josephine Gresham of the 1892 Bishop's Palace. He attended Bingham College in North Carolina. Eventually, he settles in San Marino California where he lives for the majority of his life. Although we don't know much more about Philip, we do know that he was a dog lover from a young age 🐶❤️ This photo, of Philip Gresham around 1900, was discovered on the third floor of the 1892 Bishop's Palace in 2007 when GHF took over management of the National Historic Landmark.

Do you know anyone who shares a birthday with Philip? Tag them in the comments below and wish them a very Happy Birthday from GHF! 🎈🎉

04/15/2019

Millionaire Robert Mills, Erstwhile "Duke of Brazoria," Dies in Galveston

On 13 April 1888, Robert Mills, early Texas merchant and the largest slaveholder in antebellum Texas, died at Galveston. In Brazoria, the Kentucky native began engaging in the Mexican trade in 1830. Bars of Mexican silver were stacked like cordwood in the Mills brothers' counting room, and Mills became known as the "Duke of Brazoria." In 1839 he built the first cotton compress in Texas. He became a shipping magnate in the 1850s. By 1860 the Mills brothers cultivated approximately 3,300 acres on their four Brazoria County plantations. Mills was reputed to have been worth between $3 and $5 million before the Civil War. He freed about 800 slaves in 1865. His firm lost heavily when customers were unable to pay their debts, and suffered additional postwar losses when the cotton market collapsed. He declared bankruptcy in 1873 and was dependent on relatives in his final years. [The map shows the location of Brazoria County within the State of Texas. – Jeff Modzelewski]
_____

Texas State Historical Association Handbook of Texas Online articles on:

Robert Mills – http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmi39

David Graham Mills – http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmi64

San Luis, Texas – http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvsem

Antebellum Texas - http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/npa01

03/29/2019

03/22/2019

Find Reedy Chapel on Broadway.

03/14/2019

Not all paintings are a big hit...

01/26/2019

Galveston City Hall, c. 1900 🖤🐎

01/16/2019

How many museums can you cross off your list in one day?C'mon you history buffs...go for it!

01/12/2019

Heroes.

01/12/2019

Interested in learning more about the Hatteras and the Alabama?

01/07/2019

12/23/2018

Thank You and Happy Holidays - www.gleegallery.net

12/20/2018

Hmm... I see a "Lee" in the list.

12/20/2018

It started right here in Galveston. As so much of Texas early history did.

12/17/2018

I was so very honored when the Smithsonian Channel picked up "Perfect Storms: America's Deadliest Disaster". Featuring Galveston's 1900 Hurricane and Hurricane Ike.

Then only $4.99/month.

12/16/2018

Ongoing through Monday, December 31, 2018 Rosenberg Library (Harris Gallery) 2310 Sealy St

12/16/2018

This looks very interesting. Interested in Today in Texas History - this is worth the road trip to Rosenberg Library

The Special Collections Department recently digitized an album of negatives kept by Moreau Brown Sweeney, who lived at Ashton Villa. Sweeney captured the images when he was a young teenager in 1898 and 1899. The album contains images of Boston, New York City, and Galveston, including this image of the Texas Heroes Monument before completion. This unique album allows you to look at the world through the eyes of a young man who lived a century ago.

Image: Top of the Texas Heroes Monument before installation, 1900. Item 80-1, Moreau Brown Sweeney negative album, SC #285. Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.

12/04/2018

- The Turf Athletic Club, 2214 Market Street, c.1940

The Turf Athletic Club (TAC) was one of four private clubs owned and operated by Galveston’s Maceo family. The three-story building in the 2200 block of Market Street hosted a nightclub, two restaurants, a casino, a gymnasium and a betting parlor. The building also contained the offices for the Maceo enterprises and a swanky bar called The Studio Lounge, one of the first air-conditioned nightclubs in the United States. The Studio Lounge was also where the Margarita was invented! According to the legend, in 1948, singer Peggy Lee was performing in Galveston when she asked Studio Lounge bartender Santos Cruz for something refreshing. The singer preferred tequila, but she didn’t like the salt and lime follow up by hand. To fulfill her request, Cruz modified the recipe for the popular drink “Side Car”; substituting tequila for brandy, lime instead of lemon and ri***ng the glass with salt in place of sugar. Miss Lee was delighted with the result, as was her husband, who christened the drink “Margarita” after the formal version of the singer’s name.

As years passed, Santos Cruz became legendary. Knowing that it took more than being the best to succeed in his line of work, he took pride in knowing all of his customers by name. Although he had only an eighth grade education, after his many years “behind the bar” Cruz was quoted as saying he had earned his Master’s Degree in Psychology and Sociology. He never argued with disbelievers regarding the origin of the Margarita, choosing instead to quietly confirm that he believed he was the inventor of the popular cocktail. Santos Cruz died in December 2005 and is buried in Galveston’s Lakeview Cemetery.

Please ensure you like the 'GHF at the 1940 Sears Building' page for additional posts of our preservation efforts.

Address

2217 Strand, Suite 107-B
Galveston, TX
77550

Telephone

+14093707350

Website

http://www.galvestonhistorytourguide.com/

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