Spring Pilgrimage time is upon us, and I’ve compiled a list of all the Mississippi home tours I can find, along with a few out-of-state that you might be interested in. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, if you’re enough of an old house architecture buff to be a MissPres reader, you should be first in line for pilgrimage tickets each year. Yes, sometime you get annoyed by the docent’s concentration on this and that antique, or maybe you wish they would or wouldn’t wear costumes, but this is your one chance to get to see inside many of these historic houses and with architecture, seeing is learning. You can have picture books but they don’t really give you all that you get with your own eyes inside the houses. Plus, the architectural myths you get to hear from the docents are priceless, and after you hear enough of them, you could write a book to go along with Pam Simpson’s classic ““Windows, Closets, Taxes, and Indians: Old House Stories We Have Known and Loved (Redux).”
I’ve also placed these events on the MissPres calendar so you can more easily plan out your spring.
So get out there, y’all, take pictures, support historic homes, see the world, enjoy the Southern spring in all its glory!
Natchez Spring Pilgrimage
March 9-April 9, 2013
Twenty-nine antebellum mansions, most of them private residences, open their doors to visitors during this four-week Pilgrimage every spring. Your guides are costumed family friends and descendants of the original owners, whose stories are as real as the bricks and mortar in their hearths. Each house is unique with 18th and 19th century furnishings, porcelain, silver, clothing, tools, documents and diaries.
see http://www.natchezpilgrimage.com/natchez-spring-pilgrimage.php
Mississippi Gulf Coast
March 16-24, 2013
Come celebrate the beauty and history of the Coastal South. The pilgrimage is a tour of homes, gardens, museums and historical landmarks. Each day showcases a different region along the coast. All tours and events are complimentary except the luncheon.
Columbus Spring Pilgrimage
March 31-April 14, 2013
Welcome to the 73rd Annual Columbus Spring Pilgrimage – an award-winning event that has earned the coveted reputation as one of the best and most authentic historic home tours in the South. The antebellum mansions of Columbus are impeccably maintained
and resplendent as ever. Many tour homes feature recreated activities of the 1800s complete with period costumes, which add even more authenticity to this historic event. It’s an experience visitors will long remember.Driving tour CDs and visitor information for Columbus are available at the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center located downtown at 300 Main Street. This Victorian structure is the first home of renowned playwright Tennessee Williams – winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his works, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
March 31 – April 13 are the dates for this year’s annual Spring Pilgrimage in Columbus. There are 14 magnificent antebellum homes and gardens and 3 beautiful churches on tour this year. For more information, please call 662.329.1191 or 800.920.3533.
http://columbus-ms.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2013-Pilgrimage-Brochure-digital.pdf
Vicksburg Tapestry
April 1-30, 2013
Experience the rich Tapestry of early Vicksburg life. Explore the fabric of Vicksburg society with tours of our historic homes and hallways. Enjoy interpretive presentations of Vicksburg’s history that brings to life the heritage and culture of this remarkable river city.
Some of Vicksburg’s most historic properties will tell their stories from antebellum grandeur to the Siege of Vicksburg to the turn of the 20th Century. Together these stories weave the Tapestry of who we are today.
Aberdeen
April 5-7, 2013
A river port steeped in history, Aberdeen is one of the richest repositories of nineteenth century architecture in Mississippi. Eleven magnificent antebellum planters’ townhouses and beautifully appointed Victorian homes will be available for touring, and we’ve scheduled many exciting, related events for our visitors’ pleasure.
The members of First Missionary Baptist Church, an African-American congregation with antebellum roots, will host their fabulous Taste of Mississippi and Gospel Concert.
The Elkin Theatre, Aberdeen’s vintage movie palace, is planning a rollicking community theatre production. These annual presentations have become a real local tradition.
Lies and Legends of the Old Aberdeen Cemetery a ghostly journey through our oldest graveyard, relates the amazing stories of Aberdeen’s earliest residents. Shortly after sunset, trained guides will treat Pilgrimage goers to a fascinating trip through the cemetery as they relate stories of early Aberdeenians who are buried there. Graves of Civil War dead are located in a fenced-in area of this cemetery, and there’s even the grave of a veteran of the Revolutionary War.
Holly Springs
April 12-14, 2013
Tour of Historic Homes and Churches
Make plans now to visit the grand mansions, quaint cottages, and sacred spaces of Holly Springs during the 75th Annual Pilgrimage April 12-14, 2013
Call 662-252-2365 for tickets or more information.Group Discounts Available
Contact Lisa at 901-230-3576 to coordinate your group’s tourLuncheons, brunches, carriage tours, evening events, art and crafts fair, living history demonstrations, Civil War re-enactors, cooking demonstrations, and much more!
If you feel like getting out of state for a weekend trip, you might be interested in one of these pilgrimages nearby.
Mobile, Alabama
March 15-16, 2013
Join us for Mobile’s annual spring pilgrimage. This year’s tour features six private, historic homes dating from the 1850s through the 1890s. Homes showcase a variety of architectural styles, period antiques, private art collections and collectibles. The Oakleigh Historic Mansion, Mobile’s offical period house museum will also be open. A walking tour, the Mobile Historic Homes Tour is centered on Government Street, a lovely tree-lined historic throughfare. Parking is available at the tour site and tickets are available for purchase online at http://www.historicmobile.org. Proceeds will benefit the Historic Mobile Preservation Society and the Oakleigh Historic Complex.
St. Francisville, Louisiana
March 15-17, 2013
The annual Audubon Pilgrimage celebrates a southern spring in St. Francisville, the glorious garden spot of Louisiana’s English Plantation country. For four decades the sponsoring West Feliciana Historical Society, its docents resplendent in authentic 1820’s costumes, has thrown open the doors of significant historic structures to commemorate the tenure there of artist-naturalist John James Audubon as he painted a number of his famous bird folios.
In celebration of Audubon’s stay, the West Feliciana Historical Society’s annual pilgrimage has since 1972 permitted privileged visitors an intimate glimpse of Audubon’s scenic, unspoiled Happyland and its Historic Homes and Gardens, public and private.
New Orleans, Louisiana
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Preservation Resource Center’s Shotgun House and Art Tour.Enjoy a delightful self-guided tour of shotgun homes Uptown, featuring the personal art collections of artists, collectors, and gallery owners. This walkable tour includes discounts at participating businesses along Magazine Street.
Categories: Aberdeen, Columbus, Gulf Coast, Heritage Tourism, Holly Springs, Natchez, Preservation People/Events, Vicksburg
Preservation in Mississippi 
Thank you. Great Resource. Spring it is time of renewal and what a way to start visiting great historic sites.
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