PANTEGO — The ground floor of the Pantego Academy Historical Museum is brimming with relics and mementos from Beaufort County’s rich history.

Upstairs, dust and spider webs share space with cast-off furnishings, boxes of holiday decorations and grimy evidence that time hasn’t been kind to the areas of the museum rarely seen by the public.

Still, one can see potential in the closed off rooms. One such person is Jenny Respess Hollowell, local historian and museum volunteer.

According to Hollowell, the building that houses the museum served for generations as a school house for Pantego area children. The original back section was built circa 1870s and the “newer” front portion of the building was constructed between 1907 and 1909. At various times, the stately structure was known as the Male and Female Academy, Pantego Academy, Pantego High School and Pantego Elementary School. After being condemned for use as classrooms, the building oddly enough continued to be used as a lunchroom, Hollowell added.

Museum board members and volunteers dream of the day when they can throw open the doors to the second floor and expand exhibition space. The move would basically double the amount of space to showcase items of historic and cultural interest, according to Hollowell.

Of course, there are a few stumbling blocks in the way.

“I think in today’s world it would be necessary to have some sort of elevator,” Hollowell said. “And after figuring out access we’d have to pay for it. I believe it needs to be used as a museum; we are trying to create a museum for all of Beaufort County, not just Pantego.

One feather in the building’s crown is its unique exterior staircase, the only way to access the second floor at the present time.

“Those stairs are very scarce,” Hollowell noted. “Some have called it a horseshoe staircase. It could be the last in existence in the state.”

While others may look at the second floor and see stains from past water damage and calling cards left behind by visiting birds, Hollowell sees a diamond in the rough.

“This building’s construction is just marvelous,” she said with a smile lighting up her face. “I just love it.”

The Pantego Academy Historical Museum, located at 46 Academy St., is open Saturdays and Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. For more information, call 252-943-2200 or visit www.pantegoacademy.com.