Saturday was the final day of the 2015 Historic Pilgrimage and people were trying to squeeze in as much history as possible by visiting different homes, churches and museums.

Vaughan Smitherman Museum board member Susan Newton could be found in the parlor telling visitors about the history of the building, which served as the Pilgrimage’s headquarters.

“I was born and raised here [in Selma] and as an adult left for 30 years, and my heart has just always been here,” Newton said. “I just think the history is fantastic. It’s interesting. It’s our culture — it’s just our way of life here.”

Newton has lived all over the world during her life but said there’s nowhere quite like Selma. She has been back for three years now, and she said she’s just excited to be able to share the history of her hometown with anyone who will listen.

Keeping the history relevant is important to Newton, who said she feels like the history needs to be repeated to others like it was to her so that the tales of Selma are never forgotten.

“I think it’s important to keep our history alive and just keep it going,” Newton said.

Robert Christian, from Birmingham, made his way down to Selma to take a look into the past. Christian hasn’t been to Selma since the 1980s, and he said touring the homes was exciting and impressive.

“I think the thing that impressed me more than anything is just the number of historic homes that are here,” Christian said.

“I didn’t remember it being such a vast area of historic homes.”

Christian complimented the tour and said it was definitely worth going to see.

“It’s all very interesting. The tour guide was quite informative and I was really impressed,” Christian said.

The 2015 Pilgrimage included the Vaughan Smitherman Museum, Heritage Village, First Baptist Church, Queen of Peace Catholic Church, First Baptist Church MLK, Tabernacle Baptist Church, Brown Chapel AME Church, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Reformed Presbyterian Church, Church Street United Methodist Church, The Old Depot Museum, Jordan Home, Selma Interpretive Center, Marshall’s Grove, Phillips-Hobbs-Joyce-Gamble Home, Jackson Home and Sturdivant Hall.