PANTEGO — One of the more interesting, and perhaps less touted, attractions in Beaufort County is hosting an early Veterans Day celebration today, one of many events held at the Pantego Historical Museum throughout the year.

The event is planned for 2 p.m. in the former school building located on Academy Street. The public is welcome.

For those who can’t make today’s service, the museum is open each Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. It’s well worth the drive to Pantego, a sleepy little community that treasures its history.

But it doesn’t stay buried in the past, according to museum committee president Virginia Respess Hollowell.

“The museum has some forward-thinking goals we’re going to be announcing later,” she said. “We’ll be improving and upgrading … I am so excited about it.”

While those plans are still being formulated, there are already plenty of reasons to visit the Pantego Historical Museum.

Founded in 1874 as the Pantego Male and Female Academy, the building was a focal point of the town. In 1907 it was purchased by the Beaufort County public schools system and was renamed Pantego High School; it operated as such until a new brick building was constructed nearby during the 1920s. The former academy continued as space for elementary classrooms and a lunchroom for a time before being closed. Time took its toll on the old building but it was eventually reclaimed, restored and opened to the public as a museum and treasure chest of local memorabilia.

Items of interest include the school’s 1879 bell as well as antique furniture and quilts, photos and mementos of everyday life in Pantego spanning more than a century. The museum is also home to an impressive collection of memorabilia collected by graduates of the old Pantego High School; those items include yearbooks, trophies and sports uniforms representing the glory days of thePantego Warriors.

In addition to the main building, the museum complex is also home to the circa 1880 Pantego jailhouse and a circa 1870 building that once served as an office for George D. Old, who worked with the Pantego Albemarle Swamp Land Company. Old was also the first president of the Pantego Male and Female Academy. The two historic structures were moved from their previous locations to the museum grounds in recent years.

The museum is included on the National Register of Historic Places. For more information, visit www.pantegoacademy.com.