The Lyceum is abundant with history and beauty.
An affordable wedding and reception venue
The Lyceum of Galveston Island is a year-round weddings and events venue. The venue is located in beautiful historic downtown Galveston and is just a few minutes’ drive from Seawall Blvd and the ocean. It is ideal for indoor and outdoor ceremonies as well receptions. You will love The Lyceum if you are looking for a historic, beautiful, and versatile venue that can be customized to your desires. The Lyceum has a romantic feel with elegant touches for every type of wedding.
Award-Winning Venue
The Lyceum of Galveston Island is a special award-winning wedding/reception venue that is perfect for your special day. We offer great flexibility with both indoor and outdoor seating arrangements and are registered with Wedding Wire, The Knot, and Here Comes The Guide. The Lyceum is capable of accommodating 300 people seated theater style and banquet seating for 200.
Our History
Now a popular Galveston wedding chapel, the Lyceum has a long history of service on the Island and has survived numerous hurricanes (including the Great 1900 Storm — the worst natural disaster ever to strike the coastline of the United States) and has served the people as a social meeting place, a public school, and a church for over a century and a half.
1845
The Galveston Lyceum was built when The Galveston Lyceum Society was chartered in 1845 during the time that Texas was still a republic.
The project was part of an educational movement that planted specialized meeting halls in communities. The term “lyceum” — then and now — refers to a concept traced back to ancient Greece and gatherings in an Athens garden with Aristotle to debate issues of the day.
In the United States, lyceum societies established forums, educational gatherings, and events shoring up a cultural center for communities. Lyceum halls often housed libraries.
The first lyceum in Texas was established in Austin in 1839 with Sam Houston as an honorary member. Galveston formed the second lyceum in the republic of Texas. Lyceum debates centered on annexation slavery temperance and Native Americans in frontier times. In this building were various lectures, concerts, and other entertainment.
1852
On Easter Sunday in 1852, the First Lutheran Church of Galveston held its first Sunday service in this building, which was then known as simply the Lyceum Hall, where it was located on the corner of Winnie Street and 25th Street. The church rented the Lyceum for the annual amount of $75.
After renting the Lyceum for about a year, the church acquired two adjacent lots on the corner of Winnie and 24th streets from a German organization known as “Deutsch-Texanische Freundschaft Bund”, which maintained a German school. Students were charged $1 per year but many waived this fee due to poverty.
In 1855, the congregation purchased the Lyceum building it had been renting and moved it to its current location on the corner of Winnie and 24th street where it was made into an auditorium used on Sunday for services. During the week it was occupied as a school.
1868
Shortly after the Civil War, on January 12, 1868, the swelling congregation, under Rev. F. Gloor voted to build a new framed wooden church which was completed and dedicated to service on May 17, 1868. A picket fence surrounded the white-framed building and the old Lyceum building remained beside the new church and served for Sunday School and social gatherings. The church quickly grew to be one of the largest Lutheran congregations in Texas.
In a description of the 1900 Storm of Galveston, it was reported that there was some interior damage but the old Lyceum withstood the ferocity of the hurricane and served as a shelter for the homeless.
1915
n 1915, during the ministry of Rev. C.P. Hasskarl, the church was made into a brick veneer. The Lyceum building was attached to the west wing as an annex used for Sunday School and church overflow.
During the remodeling of the church, the original marble slab of the Lyceum Society of Galveston was discovered behind a heavy piece of zinc. Had the brick renovation project not been done, this historic slab would most likely have never been found.
Today, the slab can be seen inside the narthex of the Sanctuary built by the First Lutheran Church of Galveston in 1959.
Now over a century and a half old, The Lyceum of Galveston is a historic setting with a memorable location for pre-or post-nuptial activities, meetings, trade shows, and social events.
1959
In 1959 the present structure of the First Lutheran Church of Galveston, located across the courtyard, was dedicated and continues servicing the needs of the Galveston community. Visit: firstlutherangalveston.com
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An artist created this sketch from existential partial photographs of the original Galveston Lyceum and those who remember it said the likeness is very close to the appearance of the structure.
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The first lyceum on Texas was established in Austin in 1839 with Sam Houston as an honorary member.
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The framed church completed in 1868 served as the basic unit of congregational life for 90 years.
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During the remodeling of the church, the original marble slab of the Lyceum Society of Galveston was discovered behind a heavy piece of zinc by workers.
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Renovation of the framed building into a brick veneer structure was completed in 1915 and the annex on the side (not seen in this photo) is the original Lyceum Building.
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In 1959 the present structure of the First Lutheran Church of Galveston, located across the courtyard, was dedicated and continues servicing the needs of the Galveston community.
