This year’s Vicksburg Spring Pilgrimage will traverse 12 historic homes all over Vicksburg.

Presented by The Vicksburg Bed and Breakfast Association, there will be four tour options that all highlight different areas of Vicksburg, for $45 each. 

Tour A will go through Constitution Firehouse, Duff Green Mansion and Mary Harwood House; tour B will go through Planter’s Hall, McNutt House and Belle of the Bends. Tour C starts with the Cedar Grove Mansion before heading to the McRaven House and finishing at Christ Episcopal Church; and Tour D goes through Steele Cottage, Catherine’s Palace and Featherstone-Magruder House.

A tours run on each Thursday, with B, C and D tours running on Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively. The tours run from March 22-March 25, March 29-March 31, with no D tour on Easter Sunday, and April 5-April 7. All tours begin at 12:45 starting at the Old Depot Museum, 1010 Levee Street, and transportation will be provided.

This year, all of the tours will include a city tour by Morgan Gates, and there is an optional lunch at Main Street Market Cafe, with lunch tickets available for $11.

Brittany Evans, the Haunted History tour guide at the McRaven house, was excited for the tour.

“You’ll be able to tour different homes in Vicksburg and really understand the history of Vicksburg, the siege of Vicksburg, how the homes were built, how the people lived,” Evans said.

For Evans, what made the tour special was how it found a way to incorporate the entire cities history into the journey.

“It’s one of those things, that instead of having to go to every home separately or pick and choose which one you would like to go to, the city organizes it for you, so you’re really able to get guided through the entire city,” Evans said.

The tour also provides a look at Vicksburg you may not be able to see at any other time.

“Oftentimes the homes on the tour aren’t necessarily offered throughout the entire year, so these are going to be the only times you’re going to be able to get into the homes and really view some of these older, historic homes and even have residents in them,” Evans said. “They’re not typically always open to the public, and for pilgrimage they typically are.”

Tickets to the tour can be purchased online at www.vicksburgpilgrimage.com, at the Visitors Information Center across from the Vicksburg Military Park, or over the phone at 601-456-0420.