SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2024 | 10 AM – 2 PM
Galveston Historical Foundation’s Sacred Places Tour returns! The popular tour benefits GHF’s ongoing restoration of St. Joseph’s Church, the oldest wooden church building in Galveston, and the oldest German Catholic church in Texas. A wide range of religious traditions and building styles will be featured, highlighting the island’s rich religious heritage while showcasing the depth and range of Galveston’s sacred architecture.The tour starts at the 1859 Saint Joseph’s Church, 2202 Avenue K. Galveston Historical Foundation staff will have a welcome program beginning at 9 a.m. You can then visit additional locations in the order you choose until 2 p.m.
2024 TOUR LOCATIONS
Saint Joseph’s Church – 2202 Avenue K **TOUR CHECK-IN**
Trinity Episcopal Church – 22nd & Winnie
St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica – 2011 Church
Central Christian Church – 2702 Avenue O 1/2
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Galveston County – 502 Church
First Union Baptist Church of Galveston – 1027 Avenue K
Galveston Islamic Center – 921 Broadway
SPECIAL PRESENTATION AT SAINT JOSEPH’S CHURCH – 9 AM
Galveston Dispatches—A Swiss Missionary’s Account of Nineteenth-Century Texas” is a first-hand account of life in Galveston between 1855 and 1866. Fredrich Gloor was just 19 years old when he sailed 75 days from Europe and landed on the dock in Galveston. The St. Chrischona mission in Basel, Switzerland, sent him to teach at the First Evangelical German Lutheran Church of Galveston. He spent the next 11 years writing to his family about a land and culture very different from his life in Switzerland. Author Clay Rogers will present more about how these letters were discovered after almost 150 years and some of the background behind the content in advance of the release of his book later this year.
ABOUT GALVESTON HISTORICAL FOUNDATION
Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF) was formed as the Galveston Historical Society in 1871 and merged with a new organization formed in 1954 as a non-profit entity devoted to historic preservation and history in Galveston County. Over the last sixty years, GHF has expanded its mission to encompass community redevelopment, historic preservation advocacy, maritime preservation, coastal resiliency and stewardship of historic properties. GHF embraces a broader vision of history and architecture that encompasses advancements in environmental and natural sciences and their intersection with historic buildings and coastal life and conceives of history as an engaging story of individual lives and experiences on Galveston Island from the 19th century to the present day.
