For the 37th Annual Heritage Association of San Marcos Tour of Homes this weekend, organizers will welcome visitors to some of the city's oldest sites.

"We have a wonderful history in our town that literally goes back thousands of years when you look at the early cultures that inhabited the banks of the San Marcos River so long ago," said Shelley Henry, president-elect of the Heritage Association of San Marcos.

The event will be from 1–5 p.m. May 5–6 and includes guided tours of homes such as the Robert Hixon Belvin House, located at 730 Belvin St.

A portion of the Belvin House was built in about 1859 and served as one of the first schools in San Marcos. The Rev. Robert Belvin, former president of a Methodist school, converted the building into a home for his family in 1875.

The Belvin House was later owned by the Rev. J. W. Vest and then J.S. Brown, who was one of the first faculty members at Southwest Texas State University. In 1974, the structure received the Texas Historic Landmark designation.

Henry, who said she has been interested in San Marcos history since she was a child, became involved with the Tour of Homes in 2004 as a writer and docent.

"I'm grateful to all the community volunteers and local historians here in San Marcos who have led the way in preserving and sharing that history with future generations," she said

Also on the tour and on Belvin Street stands the two-story, five-room Baker-McGehee house.

The Victorian-style house was built in 1895 for George Thomas McGehee and his wife, Sarah Cherokee Woods.

McGehee moved to San Marcos from Bastrop in 1846 with his family, who were among the first white settlers in the city.

In 1862, McGehee joined the Confederate Army and served three terms in the state Legislature. A decade later he married Woods, who is featured in the book and made-for-TV movie "True Women."

The Baker-McGehee house was designated a Texas Historical Marker in 1975.

That same year, the Heritage Association of San Marcos was founded.

Henry said the organization was the result of the Bicentennial Commission. She said her mother, Janet Scott, served as one of the Cottage Kitchen Bicentennial Belles and helped San Marcos celebrate events that had led to the U.S. becoming an independent nation.

"It's exciting to know that a tradition started in 1975 is still going strong here in San Marcos and that we live in a community that values our shared heritage and culture," Henry said.

The Heritage Association of San Marcos has partnered with various organizations that support the group's mission to enrich and beautify the community through historical and cultural preservation.

To celebrate Heritage Weekend in San Marcos, the Hays County Historical Commission, LBJ Museum of San Marcos, Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos, The Calaboose African American History Museum and the Central Texas Wing of the Commemorative Air Force San Marcos Airport will also be open to visitors during the Tour of Homes.

Tour of Homes tickets may be purchased at the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce, Charles S. Cock House Museum, by mail and on both event days.