The annual Spring Pilgrimage has been a staple in Columbus for about 80 years.

However, it has seen a shakeup as of late.

The Preservation Society of Columbus, formed in 2019, took over Pilgrimage from the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau and hosted its first home tour this past spring. That tour, however, left some feeling underwhelmed. This disappointment led to the formation of a new group, consisting of Antebellum homes and the owners.

“We had a preservation society that was started three years ago, in 2019,” said Dick Leike, president for the Historic Home Tours of Columbus group. “I was actually president of it. What we saw was not enough of the homes were made available to the tourists. The homeowners decided that we would meet, and said, ‘You know, we might could do a better job of this by the fact that we own these homes. Let’s start a home tour based on the homes that we know here and the homeowners that would like to make their homes available to the general public for viewing.”

The group will have its inaugural tour of homes March 16-26.

It will feature 12 homes, and the goal is to offer an immersive experience complete with costumes.

“Historic Home Tours participants’ focus is helping our visitors, welcoming them to Columbus and hoping that they can, just for a moment or two, take a walk back in the past,” said Rachel George, the owner of Baskerville Manor and the secretary for the group. “We are all costumed. Our hostesses have knowledge of the history of the houses and the builders and the owners. We’re hoping to recreate the original 1940s tour. Those ladies are long gone, but the houses are still here.”

Of the 22 homes on the original tour, she said 20 of them are still standing.

George has been participating in Pilgrimage for around 60 years, and she wants to see the tradition stay alive.

She said about half of the homes on the upcoming tour were on the original Pilgrimage in the 1940s.

Another aspect of the Historic Home Tours is interactivity. George said the homeowners encourage audience participation.

“It’s a participatory thing,” she said. “Once we’ve told our story, we would say to people, ‘Do you have any questions?’ Lots of people will ask. They’re very interested in knowing.”

The tour will feature live music and a mint julep party as well. Ultimately, the group hopes to establish itself and continue to host tours.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” George said. “It’s a hopeful thing. We don’t know how it’s all going to turn out. We don’t have any idea.”

The group is working to establish a website as well as a call line to purchase tickets for the upcoming event. Information about tickets and how to purchase them will be available soon.

Drawing people
According to George, the Pilgrimage has a history of drawing people from all over the world, and the group hopes to have that same appeal.

The historic homes are actually what brought Leike to the area in the first place.

“It drew me here and I knew nothing about Columbus,” he said.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, he said his dream was to own a pre-Civil War home, but many of the Antebellum homes in Atlanta were burned during the war.

However, when he began searching for a new home in 2000, he found the “hidden jewel” that is Columbus and the White Arches home. He eventually purchased the Riverview home as well.

“It’s amazing to have a town like Columbus, with so many of these homes still here,” he said.

However, drawing people here is only half of the battle. The group wants to make them feel at home and comfortable in the city.

“Our goal is to make Columbus look better,” George said. “We have the motto, ‘The Friendly City,’ and that’s where we would like to go. A walk back in the past, a whisper from the past, the feeling that not only have you learned something, but you’ve also enjoyed yourself.”