Fort Raleigh National Historic Site

	Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. National Historic Site
	Fort Raleigh during reconstruction (1950)
Location	Dare County, North Carolina
Nearest city	Manteo, North Carolina
Coordinates	35°56′19″N 75°42′36″W / 35.93861°N 75.71000°W
Area	14 acres (5.7 ha)
Built	1585
Architect	Ralph Lane
Visitation	276,071 (2005)
Website	Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
NRHP reference No.	66000102
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site preserves the location of Roanoke Colony, the first English settlement in the present-day United States. The site was preserved for its national significance in relation to the founding of the first English settlement in North America in 1587. The colony, which was promoted and backed by entrepreneurs led by Englishman Sir Walter Raleigh (ca. 1554–1618), failed sometime between 1587 and 1590 when supply ships failed to arrive on time. When next visited, the settlement was abandoned with no survivors found. The fate of the "Lost Colony" was a celebrated mystery, although most modern academic sources agree that the settlers likely assimilated into local indigenous tribes.

The historic site is off U.S. Highway 64 on the north end of Roanoke Island, North Carolina, about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the town of Manteo. The visitor center's museum contains exhibits about the history of the English expeditions and colonies, the Roanoke Colony, and the island's Civil War history and Freedmen's Colony (1863-1867).

History

The Union Army occupied the island in 1862 and soon established a contraband camp for slave refugees. It founded the Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony in 1863 to be self-sustaining. The free residents of the colony were allocated plots of land by household, paid by the Army for work, and educated with the help of Northern teachers. By 1864 the colony had more than 2200 freedpeople as residents. It had a sawmill, fisheries and 600 cabins. More than 150 freedmen from the colony were among the nearly 4000 freedmen from North Carolina who served with the United States Colored Troops.^[2] The colony is commemorated with a marble monument erected at the fort site in 2001 by Dare County.^[2]

The Fort Raleigh historic site is home to Paul Green's outdoor symphonic drama, The Lost Colony. This work about the earliest colonists has been performed in the Waterside Theatre during the summer since 1937, with an interlude during World War II. It is presented by the Roanoke Island Historical Association.

Administrative history

Waterside Theatre

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site was established on April 5, 1941, through a transfer of property to the National Park Service under a cooperative agreement with the Roanoke Island Historical Association (RIHA) and Acting Secretary of the Interior Alvin J. Wirtz, using authority provided under the Historic Sites Act of 1935. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

Fort Raleigh is co-managed with two other Outer Banks parks, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It is the location of the group headquarters at the northern end of Roanoke Island. The cooperative agreement of 1941 allows RIHA to stage theatrical performances in the Waterside Theatre, also on park property.

Elizabethan Gardens

The sunken gardens at the Elizabethan Gardens

Within the historic site are the Elizabethan Gardens, managed by the Garden Club of North Carolina, created as a memorial to the first colonists and as an example of a period garden. The gardens cover more than 10 acres (4.0 ha) and include a replica Tudor gate house. There is a separate fee for the gardens.

Over 500 species of plants are artfully tended on 10.5 acres of scenic waterfront property. This beautiful Outer Banks attraction was built in the mid 20th century to honor Queen Elizabeth I. Stepping into the Elizabethan Gardens is like stepping into a time machine. History buffs and horticulturists alike will enjoy the Renaissance statues hidden throughout the garden and the intricate Elizabethan-style buildings. The garden is open daily year round and holds seasonal events such as educational tours in the summer and holiday light displays in the winter. The attraction is also a popular Outer Banks wedding venue thanks to its romantic ambiance and idyllic views.^[3]

References

↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
1 2 "6.4 The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony". North Carolina Digital History. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
↑ "Elizabethan Gardens". Southern Shores. Southern Shores Realty. Retrieved 9 April 2020.

External links

Official website
The Elizabethan Gardens
The Lost Colony at the Waterside Theatre

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.

[learnNC-2] 1 2 "6.4 The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony". North Carolina Digital History. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2010.

[3] "Elizabethan Gardens". Southern Shores. Southern Shores Realty. Retrieved 9 April 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Outer Banks of North Carolina and Virginia
Landforms	Bodie Island Knotts Island Monkey Island Mary Island Colington Island Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula Roanoke Island Pea Island Hatteras Island No Ache Island Cape Hatteras Shelly Island Ocracoke Island Beacon Island Portsmouth Island Core Banks Cape Lookout
Places	City of Virginia Beach Sandbridge Currituck County Knotts Island Carova Beach Corolla Dare County Duck Southern Shores Kitty Hawk Kill Devil Hills Colington Nags Head Whalebone Junction Manteo Wanchese Rodanthe Waves Salvo Avon Buxton Frisco Hatteras Hyde County Ocracoke Carteret County Portsmouth Cape Lookout Village
Waterways	Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Bays Onslow Bay Raleigh Bay Back Bay Knotts Island Bay Sounds Currituck Sound Albemarle Sound Croatan Sound Roanoke Sound Pamlico Sound Core Sound Back Sound Inlets Oregon Inlet New Inlet Isabel Inlet Hatteras Inlet Ocracoke Inlet Drum Inlet Barden Inlet
Lighthouses	Currituck Beach Light Bodie Island Light Cape Hatteras Light Ocracoke Light Cape Lookout Light
Protected areas and wildlife	National Seashores Cape Hatteras National Seashore Cape Lookout National Seashore Wildlife Refuges Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge Currituck National Wildlife Refuge Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge State Parks False Cape State Park Jockey's Ridge State Park State Coastal Reserves Kitty Hawk Woods Buxton Woods Game Lands Currituck Banks Game Land Roanoke Island Marshes Game Land Buxton Woods Game Land Preserves Nags Head Woods Preserve Roanoke Island Marshes Preserve Museums, zoos, and institutes North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum University of North Carolina - Coastal Studies Institute Other Mountains-to-Sea Trail Pine Island Audubon Sanctuary Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Wright Brothers National Memorial Currituck Banks North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve Run Hill State Natural Area Wildlife Banker horse Red wolf
Transportation	Routes North Carolina Highway 12 North Carolina Highway 45 U.S. Highway 64 U.S. Highway 64 Bypass U.S. Highway 158 North Carolina Highway 345 North Carolina Highway 400 North Carolina Highway 615 Historic Albemarle Tour North Carolina Ferry System Bridges Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge Marc Basnight Bridge Herbert C. Bonner Bridge Wright Memorial Bridge William B. Umstead Bridge Washington Baum Bridge Melvin R. Daniels Bridge Rodanthe Bridge Mid-Currituck Bridge Captain Richard Etheridge Bridge Airports Dare County Regional Airport First Flight Airport Billy Mitchell Airport Ocracoke Island Airport
History	Events and places Pea Island Life-Saving Station Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Roanoke Colony Graveyard of the Atlantic Torpedo Alley Battle of the Atlantic Hatteras Weather Bureau Station Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island People Roanoke people Croatan Wanchese Manteo John White Richard Grenville Blackbeard Raleigh Virginia Dare Marc Basnight
Weather	1936 Outer Banks hurricane 1945 Outer Banks hurricane Hurricane Fran Hurricane Irene Hurricane Isabel Hurricane Dorian Hazard mitigation

U.S. National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina
Topics	Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types
Lists by county	Alamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey
Other lists	Bridges National Historic Landmarks

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	Israel United States
Other	NARA

History

Administrative history

Elizabethan Gardens

References

Further reading

External links