Ten years after Hurricane Floyd left nearly the entire North Carolina town underwater, Princeville has taken another step toward recovery with the opening of a museum in the former town hall.

Multiple media outlets reported that the Edgecombe County town opened an African-American cultural museum Saturday in the building, originally built as a school for black children in the late 1800s. The museum also will serve as a welcome center for Princeville, the oldest town chartered by blacks in America.

The building cost almost $800,000 to renovate, 80 percent of which came from the Transportation Department and the Federal Highway Administration. The town provided the rest of the money.

Floyd made landfall in North Carolina on Sept. 16, 1999. The storm left 90 percent of Princeville under 23 feet of water.