CHARLES CITY — The Autumn Pilgrimage House Tour, which allows visitors to see some of the most historic homes in America, takes place Saturday.

The tour, which first began in 1954, includes six properties this year, including three that are new to the tour along with Shirley Plantation, which hasn’t been on the tour for six years. The self-guided event, which runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., is a fundraiser for Westover Episcopal Church.

Charles City County was first settled in the 1600s as colonists expanded their footprint from Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. Shirley Plantation, Virginia’s oldest plantation, was settled in 1613, only six years after Jamestown.

Besides Shirley, the other houses on the tour include:

Milton: The home of Lyon Gardner Tyler (son of President John Tyler) when he was president of William & Mary.
Laurel Bluff: This property sits on part of the David Jones Land Grant, one of the earliest land grants issued following the dissolution of the Virginia Company in 1624.
Burlington: The main house was completed in 1818 and changed hands many times. After 1859, the property passed to John Mumford Gregory, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and governor of Virginia.
House at Herring Creek: Rebuilt from the ground up in 2025, this house is a close replica of the original Neston house, believed to have been built in the 1880s.
Westover Episcopal Church: This 412-year-old church is home to one of the most historic parishes in the nation.

Tickets are $60. The tour begins at 6401 John Tyler Memorial Highway in Charles City. For more information, call 804-829-2488. To purchase tickets online, visit westoverepiscopalchurch.org.

https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/09/26/saturday-tour-highlights-charles-city-county-historic-homes/