Tall Ship ELISSA Figurehead - Galveston, TX
Posted by: jhuoni
N 29° 18.222 W 094° 46.942
15R E 326893 N 3242952
This sculptors rendition of the figurehead of the Elissa can be found in the front yard at 1409 Sealy Street.
Waymark Code: WMT7PW
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/10/2016
Views: 3
When the ship was restored in the early 1980s, she was lacking a figurehead. Eli Kuslansky, a sculptor and woodcarver was hired. Two different women were used as the model. From Kurt Voss’ Galveston’s the Elissa:: The Tall Ship of Texas, “As a tribute to the generous support of the Moody Foundation, the face of the sculpture was styled in the likeness of a young Mary Moody Northen.” The life model for the rest of the figurehead was a part-time rigger and cadet at Texas A&M Maritime Academy, Amy McAllister.
(
visit link)
Elissa is a three-masted, iron-hulled sailing ship built in 1877 in Aberdeen, Scotland by Alexander Hall & Company. She carries nineteen sails covering over one-quarter of an acre in surface area. Tall ships are classified by the configuration of their sailing rig. In Elissa’s case, she is a ‘barque’ because she carries square and fore-and-aft sails on her fore and mainmasts, but only fore-and-aft sails on her mizzenmast. From her stern to the tip of her jibboom she measures 205 feet. Her height is 99 feet, 9 inches at the main mast and she displaces about 620 tons at her current ballast. But, she is much more than iron, wood and canvas…
Find out more about the Elissa at: (
visit link)