Galveston Red Light District: Mob History Tour

Step back in time and explore the dark and intriguing history of Galveston’s Red Light District. Discover the secrets of the mob-run casinos and the world-class entertainers who graced their stages.

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Antique Warehouse - Originally the Oleander Hotel in 1913. Listed in the Green Book as safe haven in the Jim Crow south. A place where the African American travelers could stay their journey to Galveston.
  • Maceo Spice & Import Company - The starting point of the Mace Empire. Formally Sam and Rosarrio first barber shop where they bootlegged…
What's Included
  • Guided tour of Galveston’s red light district
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

Experience the days when Galveston was under mob control, and guests were cherished like family members. Across the bridge lay ‘The Free State of Galveston,’ a land abiding solely by mob laws. A-list personalities like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin were some of the elite entertainers invited to perform in its casinos. Everyone indulged…

Location
2711 Market St
Market Street
Your tour will begin with our famous Red Light District. At its height there were 55 houses of prostitution on Post Office Street alone. The authenticity of this tour is the result of extensive research and firsthand information from our consultants including former FBI special agents, documentaries, newspaper clips, books, and interviews. We'll visit the sites of the brothels, casinos, and were the gangsters lived. Al Capone came to Galveston with an eye to take things over. He lasted a week and was escorted off the island never to return.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(197 Ratings)
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Agustine563
Dec 16, 2024
Love Galveston - Jeff was a very fun tour guide! He knew a lot about the area and we enjoyed the tour. If you are interested in the history of Galveston this is super cool
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Joannaj624
Dec 15, 2024
Great history lesson! - Jeff is really personable and we learned a lot about the history of Galveston, particularly The Line. Be sure to note the water lines with the different hurricanes—stunning!
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Nickolas
Dec 12, 2024
Red light/ Pub Crawl - Jeff was very informative about Galveston. I enjoyed learning about the red light district during the old times. Also learning about how prostitution was ran
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Keithsu4215rg
Dec 10, 2024
Interesting - Very detailed and informative experience. Highly recommend taking the tour. Learned alot of history regarding Galveston.
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Wander68403869841
Dec 7, 2024
Jeff did great - Jeff did a great job. Enjoyed the tour and had a great time learning the city history.learned a lot about the haunted history of city.
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Katelynk573
Dec 6, 2024
Great tour! - Jeff was amazing, very knowledgeable and personable. He customized our experience and made it very memorable. Would definitely come back and do it again!
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Q7153dzjacksons
Dec 6, 2024
Great tour! - We checked out a few cool bars! Loved the classic atmosphere! Great stories! Jeff was a really good host and would recommend anyone to choose him.
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Sabine
Dec 3, 2024
Great Experience! - The tour was amazing. Jeffry our tour guide showed us so many interesting spots, we would not have noticed, if we walked by. He told as a lot of history of the places, buildings and people who lived there. We got a great view into the past. It was a great experience! Thanks a lot Jeffry!
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X8420ozrussellw
Nov 28, 2024
Entertaining and educational. - We were shown many more sites than on a previous tour a couple of years ago. This was a more "down to the nitty gritty" tour. It was both entertaining and educational.
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Tammies88
Dec 7, 2024
Was booked as a ghost tour but not what we got - It was a little confusing because we booked a ghost tour with red light district highlights. It was quite a bit of information on Galveston infrastructure which does play into the natural disasters that befell the island but the information from the guide didn’t tie it into ghosts. Also the booking states we would see things on the strand and at the Tremont but the guide had no privileges to enter so we walked around the block through an alley that was interesting but not much in line with the way the tour is described. The guide was nice and personable but a ghost tour without so much as a church yard or cemetery was odd. Lots of brothels though.
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up to 15 guests
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December 2024
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