 Located in the Strand District , the Grand 1894 Opera House is a restored historic Romanesque Revival style Opera House that is currently operated as a not @-@ for @-@ profit performing arts theater . The Bishop 's Palace , also known as <unk> 's Castle , is an ornate Victorian house located on Broadway and 14th Street in the East End Historic District of Galveston , Texas . The American Institute of Architects listed Bishop 's Palace as one of the 100 most significant buildings in the United States , and the Library of Congress has classified it as one of the fourteen most representative Victorian structures in the nation . The Galvez Hotel is a historic hotel that opened in 1911 . The building was named the Galvez , honoring Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid , Count of Gálvez , for whom the city was named . The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 4 , 1979 . The Michel B. <unk> House , built in 1838 and oldest in Galveston , is designed in the Greek revival style . In 1880 , the house was bought by Edwin N. Ketchum who was police chief of the city during the 1900 Storm . The Ketchum family owned the home until the 1970s . The red @-@ brick Victorian Italianate home , Ashton Villa , was constructed in 1859 by James Moreau Brown . One of the first brick structures in Texas , it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a recorded Texas Historic Landmark . The structure is also the site of what was to become the holiday known as <unk> . Where On June 19 , 1865 , Union General Gordon <unk> , standing on its balcony , read the contents of “ General Order No. 3 ” , thereby <unk> all slaves in the state of Texas . St. Joseph ’ s Church was built by German immigrants in 1859 @-@ 60 and is the oldest wooden church building in Galveston and the oldest German Catholic Church in Texas . The church was dedicated in April 1860 , to St. Joseph , the patron saint of laborers . The building is a wooden gothic revival structure , rectangular with a square bell tower with <unk> window . The U.S. Custom House began construction in 1860 and was completed in 1861 . The Confederate Army occupied the building during the American Civil War , In 1865 , the Custom House was the site of the ceremony officially ending the Civil War . 
