Peter Excho channels a bygone era.

With his handlebar mustache and wearing a bowler hat, silk ascot and day coat, Excho could have easily been plucked from P.T. Barnum’s American Museum in the 1840s and placed into 21st century downtown Augusta.

And that’s exactly the feeling Excho would like for people to have. The Augusta transplant plans to turn a former auto parts store on Sixth Street into a museum like the one Barnum created. It will be called Pexcho’s American Dime Museum.

Barnum started a trend with his curiosities and freakshows, and others followed suit.

There weren’t a lot of entertainment options for the lower and middle classes in the 1800s, explained Excho. Plus people had never seen anything like the exhibits Barnum had. They didn’t know if they were real or not.

Excho became fascinated in the genre of the dime museum while growing up in Buffalo, N.Y.

“I volunteered at the museum,” he said.

He didn’t mind volunteering because he liked seeing the various items it held.

Shrunken heads, lobster boys, manfish and unicorn skulls are some of the items that Excho has seen and currently has in his personal collection.

A decade ago, Excho had a dime museum in Baton Rouge, La., but his wife decided to join the Army. They packed up all his items and put them into storage. When his wife’s service was done, they looked for a community where she could not only do her Army job as a civilian, but he could reopen the museum, he said.

“We were in downtown (Augusta) on a Tuesday, and people were walking in the rain,” he said.

To him that was a sign that Augusta’s downtown was a happening place, and he needed to locate his museum there, he said. He also liked the history of the downtown area. He said his museum needed to be in an older building – a strip mall in Martinez wouldn’t provide the same ambiance.

Since July, Excho has been cleaning up the shop and unpacking the many curiosities he owns as well as an extensive collection of pieces from carnivals.

The father of three, Excho intends to keep the space family friendly. There won’t be any gory items, and don’t expect gruesome displays on serial killers, he said.

Excho has big plans for the space. He first wants to open with a coffee shop and art gallery in the front of the building. While he doesn’t have a set date yet, he’s hoping in the next couple of months. He plans to have different art exhibitions each month.

The space in the back of the building will be transformed into the museum. Cases are already in place as are a sampling of items. He’s got another 2,000 square feet on the other side of a wall that he can expand into. He has enough items to rotate what’s on display.

Excho has big plans as he continues. He wants to eventually open a voodoo-themed restaurant serving Cajun/Creole and Colombian food.

What has surprised Excho the most is the warm reception those living and working in downtown Augusta have extended to him. He said several business owners have reached out and offered to help. He’s also interested in forming relationships with performers. A movie crew recently used his space to film scenes for a horror flick.

Besides art exhibits, he’d like to use his space for “live poetry, bad b-movie nights, local bands. I want to bring in as much culture into one place as I can,” he said.

Excho said he’ll be making announcements about the business opening via his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/americandimemuseum.

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