Fort Raleigh National Historic Site!

What Is Fort Raleigh National Historic Site?

This park preserves and interprets the first English settlement in the Americas and the famed “Lost Colony” of Roanoke!

What Makes It Historical?

In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh sent a group of settlers under Governor Ralph Lane to set up a colony in North America. Their mission was to harvest resources, spread Christianity, and find ways to disrupt and plunder Spanish ships! Despite setting up a military fort in their investor’s name, that first colony only lasted two years due to supply shortages and hostile relations with the local tribes. They were ultimately rescued in 1586 by Sir Francis Drake, who had been plundering in the area!

Not to be daunted, Sir Raleigh sent a new group the next year with a new governor, John White! Supplies continued to be scarce, so they sent the governor back to England to restock. Along the way, he ran into delays from a little thing called the Spanish Armada, plus waning interest in colonizing North America! In fact, Sir Raleigh had turned all his attention and investments to Ireland instead! It wasn’t until August 18, 1590 that Governor White got back to Roanoke to find the colony gone and only the word “CROATOAN” carved into a palisade! A storm and botched privateering efforts kept him from investigating any further, and he returned to England, which abandoned its efforts to colonize the Americas for 19 years!

Many years later, the Civil War Battle of Roanoke Island put control of North Carolina’s Outer Banks in Union hands. That gave enslaved folks fleeing on the Underground Railroad a beacon of hope within the South! Some used Roanoke as a jumping off point for more northerly places, but others stayed in a Freemen’s Colony on this island until 1867 when the US Government returned the island to its antebellum owners!

How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?

Volunteer at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site!
Become a member of Eastern National!
Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!