Kon Tiki – Galveston Island T-Shirt Opened: 1966 • Closed: 2006
For forty years, Kon Tiki was more than a bar — it was Galveston’s most iconic queer nightlife institution. Opening in 1966, this ever-shifting club survived fires, hurricane damage, multiple moves, and the island’s own boom-and-bust eras to become one of the Gulf Coast’s most enduring symbols of gay community and resilience.
From its first home on 21st Street to its final, beloved location at 315 23rd Street (a historic building that still stands), Kon Tiki was known for wild dance floors, a bold party spirit, and a willingness to keep reinventing itself — even when the odds (and storms) were stacked against it.
The club wasn’t just about nightlife. It became a symbol of survival for Galveston’s queer community: two previous sites burned down, and one was destroyed after Hurricane Alicia, yet each time, Kon Tiki rose again. That swagger — daring, unshakable, unabashed — kept it open until 2006, when the owner’s passing brought the curtain down on a true island legend.
