Atlas Obscura
The Lost Colony of Roanoke in Manteo, North Carolina
Located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Roanoke Island is home to one of America’s most enduring mysteries: the disappearance of an entire colony without a trace. Roanoke Island was first surveyed by English explorers in 1584, when the Spanish Empire was still the dominant colonial power in the Americas. The English statesman Sir Walter Raleigh sought to establish a colony in the region t…