Since it opened on June 3, 1948, the Old Courthouse Museum has helped tell residents and visitors the history of Warren County and Vicksburg.

Saturday, the staff of the Vicksburg landmark is waiving the museum’s admission and inviting area residents to visit and learn about their heritage as part of the Old Courthouse Museum’s 75th anniversary.

The museum will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. for visitors to take self-guided tours.

“Since the community has given so much to the Old Courthouse Museum over the years, we thought it was imperative that we give a little bit back to them,” said museum historian Jordan Rushing.

Saturday, he said, anybody is welcome to come in and tour the museum, adding the museum staff will be available to answer questions and talk with residents, and cake and punch will be served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Completed in 1860, the courthouse survived the Civil War and a tornado in 1953.

The building was later vacated after the construction of a new Warren County Courthouse in 1939 and was being considered for demolition.

The museum’s founder, Eva Whitaker Davis, realized the significance of the building and established the Vicksburg and Warren County Historical Society to preserve the structure.

In 1947, she was elected president of the Vicksburg and Warren County Historical Society and with the help of a few volunteers began cleaning the building and collecting artifacts. After the museum opened, she continued to work on a volunteer basis for many years.

The public added the name Eva W. Davis Memorial to the building several years before her death in 1974 and the building was named a national historic landmark in 1968. It is still operated and maintained by the Vicksburg and Warren County Historical Society.