The East End Historic District is the most intact Victorian residential neighbourhood in Texas, covering roughly 40 blocks east of Broadway between 9th and 19th streets. The neighbourhood was the home of Galveston's professional and merchant class in the late 19th century, and the mix of Italianate, Queen Anne, and Eastlake Victorian houses has been carefully preserved — partly because the neighbourhood declined economically rather than being torn down for redevelopment.
Walking the streets is the best way to experience it: Sealy Avenue, Broadway, and the cross streets are lined with wood-frame houses in various states of preservation, most still residential. Bishop's Palace anchors the west end. The Galveston Historical Foundation offers walking tour maps that identify the most significant buildings. The district rewards a quiet morning walk before the tourist traffic builds up on the Strand; the architecture and the live oaks draped in Spanish moss give the neighbourhood a distinctly Southern atmosphere at odds with most of Texas.