It's been several hundred years in the making and, really, it's still a work in progress. The story of the Albemarle region and the people that populate this watery country is about to go on permanent display.

'Our Story,' an exhibit at Museum of the Albemarle detailing the lives of Albemarle residents since the natives hunted and foraged, is near completion and will debut for the public May 10. It is the museum's foremost attraction, says curator Tom Butchko.

Brett A. Clark/The Daily Advance (ENLARGE)

The inside of the Jackson House, a local home built in 1755, on display at the new exhibit 'Our Story' in the Museum of the Albemarle showing different era's of the area and how they relate to modes of travel Wednesday April 30.

Brett A. Clark/The Daily Advance (ENLARGE)

Native American artifacts on display.

Brett A. Clark/The Daily Advance (ENLARGE)

The Inez Steam Pumper can also be seen at the exhibit.

Since the new museum building opened its doors to the public two years ago, many area residents and museum staffers as well, have been anxiously awaiting the completion of an exhibit that is what Butchko says is, " ... what the people come to see."

"This is the story of the region," he says.

The exhibit is permanent but many of the pieces will rotate. It is also a growing exhibit, allowing the museum to take on new artifacts that make up the lives of Albemarle residents past and present, and display them in such a way that it represents the many facets of life in the region based on one theme, transportation.

Butchko and exhibit designer Don Pendergraft say the idea is to explain life in the region based on three periods that revolve around modes of transportation: maritime, railroad and automotive.

Maritime

Walking into the Madrin Gallery, home to "Our Story," a towering panel depicting native village life greets visitors, along with a dugout canoe and a series of artifacts found in the region from native tribes.

Ease of travel was made possible for both native and European people thanks to boats.

"If you didn't have a boat, you didn't move," explains Butchko.

The natives would use the dugouts that would later be imitated by the Europeans through the popular design of the Periauger. That boat was designed, in part, based on the dugouts, explains Pendergraft, and used up until the Civil War as a popular regional workboat.

To the right of the native exhibit you can see artifacts from the Lost Colony. An ax head found on Roanoke Island from the period, and armor dating from the same period offer a glimpse into the fabled past.

Butchko explained that eventually, the region would be populated by people looking for less government oversight; so they would flock to the Carolinas from Virginia, creating an agricultural and maritime culture in the region that is still flourishing to some extent today.

During the early period of the Albemarle, much of the region was associated with piracy. Blackbeard, or Edward Thatch, was thought to have business dealings with Gov. Charles Eden, the namesake of Edenton, and many other pirates were known to use the backwater sounds and rivers as hiding places for their activities.

A small but impressive display of pirate history includes a cannon from the Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard's ship, other smaller artifacts and two sea chests, one that may or may not contain untold treasure, found at the wreck of a Spanish ship in Florida.

During that time period, however, families were working to settle the region. One such family was the Jackson family who built a house in 1755 that has been reconstructed inside the exhibit hall and offers an interpretation of life during the early part of the 18th century.

Visitors will be able to walk into the house and peer into two rooms to gain a small understanding of just how a family of eight might have lived.

Another major period for the region, like all of the American colonies, was the Revolution. Edenton holds the distinction of being home to one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Joseph Hughes. Butchko says the museum has the only known likeness of Hughes and it will be on display in the "Our Story" exhibit.

The exhibit will then wind through the construction of the Dismal Swamp Canal and the connection between the Albemarle and its Virginia neighbor.

"Norfolk (Virginia) grew wealthy as an antebellum port, shipping and selling Albemarle goods," explains Butchko.

The antebellum South is famous and infamous. Famous for its vast plantations and opulent wealth and infamous for promoting the institution of slavery; both aspects of this history are well displayed.

Of course the Civil War ended the antebellum period and MOA's staff has amassed a nice collection of artifacts from the period that are displayed to tell a story in three-dimensions, as with the rest of the exhibit, explains Pendergraft.

In fact, it was Pendergraft and his staff who were responsible for assisting historians like Butchko in interpreting the history with the use of artifacts. Pendergraft and his team fashioned very vivid pictures of each period, even with a minimal of artifacts.

Butchko and Pendergraft point out, for example, that only artifacts from the wealthy were available from the antebellum period because the middle class and working poor would use their resources until nothing was left; and if something is left, Butchko says it can be quite costly to attain it.

Pendergraft says another aspect of this exhibit is the rotating nature of some of the artifacts. If you were to view the exhibit today, and come back in six months, you would more than likely have a slightly different experience thanks to changing artifacts.

"As we become aware of or obtain things, we will change things out," says Butchko.

Railroad

While Butchko says the region will always remain rooted in the maritime culture, other modes of transportation would change the lives of the people. The next, and shortest, journey through Albemarle history begins around 1881 when the railroad connected eastern Albemarle to Virginia and beyond.

Locals were able to experience a life outside of, say, Elizabeth City. Whether it was an annual trip to Virginia or more access to goods being shipped to the region, life in the watery Albemarle was on the rise.

During this period the museum looks at fishing and farming as major industries. Many families lived along the rivers, sounds and swamps and split their time between farming and fishing.

"It was a seasonal sort of thing," explains Pendergraft.

Many of the region's fisherman relied heavily on a large herring catch each year for food and trade. Shad was also a major commodity in the region.

The railroad period also saw the rise of the surfmen, the life saving crews of the Outer Banks that would be the precursor to the U.S. Coast Guard. It also saw the rise of use in steam technology, something that provided power for one of the museum's best-known artifacts, Inez.

Inez was a steam-powered pump engine used by area firefighters.

The Automobile

The railroad period was relatively short lived. Because the automobile came quickly behind the railroad's presence in the Albemarle, life in the region and the artifacts soon began to change.

The automobile period takes visitors from the early 20th century and World War I through the present. Each aspect of this period, including the wars, is examined by the way Albemarle residents lived and the comforts they surrounded themselves with; things like the soda fountain from Comstock's or baseball memorabilia.

The exhibit rounds its way to the present and puts a focus on tourism as a major force in the region.

The displays that make up the entire exhibit are made up of a vast collection of Albemarle artifacts that do reach back to the early days prior to European arrival. Each display is a snapshot into the lives of the people here and thanks to the historical interpretation of Pendergraft and his staff offers little windows into a rich history that is intricately woven into American history, Southern history, maritime history, military history and more.

The exhibit will officially open to the public Saturday, May 10 at 9 a.m.