The National Park Service's
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
commemorates the first attempts at colonization
in the New World (1585 - 1587),
sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh.
The fate of this "Lost Colony,"
remains a mystery to this day.
Sir Walter Raleigh's efforts to establish
a colony ended with the disappearance of
117 men, women, and children.
On this site in July - August 1585
O S colonists set out from England
by Sir Walter Raleigh built a fort called
by them
The New Fort in Virginia.
These colonists were the first settlers
of the English race in America.
They returned to England in July 1586
with Sir Francis Drake.
Near this place was born on the 8
of August 1587,
Virginia Dare
the first child of English parents born
in America - daughter of Ananias Dare
and Eleanor White, his wife, members of
another band of colonists sent out by
Sir Walter Raleigh in 1587.
On Sunday, August 20, 1587,
Virginia Dare was baptized. Manteo, the
friendly chief of the Hatteras Indians
had been baptized on the Sunday
preceding. These baptisms are the first
known celebrations of a Christian
Sacrament in the territory of the
thirteen original United States.
Anybody know what O S means?
This 1896 monument
commemorates the birth
of the first English child born in the New World.
In the late 16th century,
England began its attempts to
expand its influence into the New World.
In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh,
trusted counselor of Queen Elizabeth I,
sent out an expedition under Philip Amadas
and Arthur Barlowe, in a search for appropriate sites
of future colonization.
They first touched the North Carolina coast in the
vicinity of Hatteras,
then moved north to what may have been
Roanoke Inlet.
The two explorers reported back to Raleigh
of a land of plenty peopled by friendly
and benevolent Indians.
Encouraged by this account,
Raleigh launched a colonization party
of 600 men under Sir Richard Grenville in April 1585.
Landfall was made near Ocracoke Inlet,
but the party moved north to Roanoke Island
and soon constructed a settlement,
Fort Raleigh, on the island's northern tip.
Grenville returned to England in August,
leaving 107 men under the leadership of Ralph Lane.
Lane was a professional soldier and apparently
had no qualms about stealing supplies from the Indians.
Relations were deteriorated by an English raid
on the main village of the Roanoke Indians and the
murder of their chief.
Sir Francis Drake appeared off Roanoke Island
in June 1586 and offered his aid.
Because of worsening relations with the Indians,
Lane decided to abandon the colony.
Just a few weeks later, Grenville returned
with three ships loaded with supplies.
He found the colonists gone,
left 15 men as a holding force,
and sailed back to England.
After Lane's return to England,
Sir Walter Raleigh began preparations
on his most ambitious effort.
117 men, women, and children,
under the governorship of John White,
set sail for the New World in May 1587,
arriving at Roanoke Island in July
and establishing the first English settlement
in the New World.
The colonists reoccupied the fort built by Lane.
The settlement was refurbished
and crops were planted.
The settlement was not yet self-sufficient.
Life on the island was difficult,
what with dwindling supplies and hostile Indians.
The colonists sent Governor John White
back to England in the summer of 1587 for supplies.
When White arrived in England,
he found the entire country preparing
for the onslaught of the Spanish Armada
and no ships could be spared for the Roanoke colony.
Finally, after Drake's victory over the Spanish,
a relief force was dispatched in August 1590.
By the time additional supplies
were brought from England,
the Roanoke Island fort was abandoned
and the entire group of settlers had vanished.
The only clue to the colonists' fate
was the word "Croatoan,"
the Indian word for Hatteras,
carved on a tree.
And that, my friends,
is the mystery of the Lost Colony.
This is the site of Fort Raleigh.
This is the historic outdoor Waterside Theater,
home to the longest-running outdoor historical drama,
The Lost Colony,
written by North Carolina native
and Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Paul Green.
The Lost Colony
came about by a desire of the locals
to commemorate the 350th Anniversary
of the birth of Virginia Dare.
The Lost Colony opened on July 4, 1937,
to a packed house,
despite the economic hardship of the Depression.
The show was intended to run only through the end
of the summer of 1937,
but when Franklin D. Roosevelt
attended a performance on August 18, 1937,
the play was assured of subsequent seasons.
This drama tells the story of 117 English settlers
who vanished from the island in one of
the great mysteries of American history.
It is performed near the very site of the
colonists' settlement.
Bit of trivia.
Andy Griffith, now a Manteo resident,
started his career at The Lost Colony,
playing the part of Sir Walter Raleigh
from 1947 - 1953.
English born architect Quentin Bell
began construction of the large-scale set
with assistance from the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Playwright Paul Green
wrote The Lost Colony,
creating a new dramatic form
that he called "symphonic drama."
The symphonic drama is inspired by historical events,
incorporates music and pageantry,
and is usually designed for outdoor performance.
Beyond is Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills.
Old oak.
We went past this monument again
on the way back out
and I shot another picture of it.
I like the light.
Stay tuned.
Next stop - The North Carolina Aquarium.
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