The Bellamy Mansion Museum of History and Design Arts has seen a record uptick in visitors, officials said.

Overall event attendance at the Bellamy Mansion Museum in 2013 totaled 20,595 visitors, executive director Gareth Evans said. In 2012, that number was 16,500, and in 2011 it was 15,000, showing a steady rise in attendance.

Of the 2013 number, 12,511 were visitors on museum tours, including 32 group tours, while the remainder attended an assortment of events. That’s a significant increase from the 9,871 on tour in 2012 and 8,598 in 2011.

Sixty-five events, including 14 lectures and four new exhibits were part of the attraction in 2013. And 24 rentals that included weddings, parties and corporate events added to the activity. All those events must be staffed, and the museum was fortunate to have that covered.

“We’re sunk without volunteers,” Evans said in an email. The support of 139 volunteers contributing more than 6,000 donated hours was crucial to a museum of that size, he said.

In addition to running the Bellamy Mansion Museum, the organization bought the house next door at 513 Market St. for future expansion and income.

“That was thanks to an extraordinarily generous gift by Tom and Lucia Hughes who are old friends of the Bellamy Museum,” Evans said.

All the while, restoration of the home’s slave quarters has continued and is nearly finished after a decade of effort by numerous individuals.

The museum recently announced the start of a pilot program for tours with New Hanover County fifth-grade students to go over topics such as “slavery in the antebellum period, Wilmington during the Civil War and the Bellamy family’s use of natural resources in the construction and everyday use of the mansion,” according to a news release.