FIRST - English Settlements in New World - Roanoke Island, NC - First of its Kind on Waymarking.com

Text on marker:

First English Colonies
Explored in 1584. Site of first English settlements in new world, 1585-1587. Birthplace of Virginia Dare, first child born of English parents in America.

This historical marker is located at the US 64/264 rest area northwest of Manteo. It was originally erected in 1935. The current marker was erected in 1983.

Roanoke Island is the site of the first English settlements in the new world. Wikipedia includes an article with more information:

The Roanoke Colony was the first English colony in the New World. (St. John's in Newfoundland was claimed in 1583 by Humphrey Gilbert but no settlement was attempted.) It was founded at Roanoke Island in what was then Virginia.

The enterprise was financed and organized by Sir Walter Raleigh, who had received a charter for the colonization of Virginia from Queen Elizabeth I of England, specifying that Raleigh had ten years in which to establish a settlement in North America or lose his colonization rights. Raleigh and Elizabeth intended that the venture should provide riches from the New World, and a base from which to send privateers on raids against the treasure fleets of Spain (with whom the English were perennially at war, see Anglo-Spanish War). With that in mind, an expedition was sent in 1584 to explore the eastern coast of North America for an appropriate location. The expedition was led by Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe, who chose the Outer Banks of modern North Carolina as an ideal location from which to raid the Spanish, and proceeded to make contact with local Native American tribes. They then returned to England to report their finds: samples of local flora and fauna, and two natives: Manteo and Wanchese.

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