The Lost Colony of Roanoke

In 1587, 115 English colonists established a settlement on Roanoke Island. When supplies arrived three years later, the colony was abandoned. Buildings were dismantled, belongings were gone, and a single word—“CROATOAN”—was carved into a post. Not a single colonist was ever found. The Lost Colony remains America’s oldest unsolved mystery.

The Colony

Governor John White left 115 men, women, and children—including his daughter Eleanor and newborn granddaughter Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America—to return to England for supplies. War with Spain delayed his return for three years.

The Discovery

On August 18, 1590 (Virginia Dare’s third birthday), White finally returned. The settlement was empty. There were no bodies, no signs of struggle, no graves. The buildings had been carefully dismantled. Personal belongings were gone.

Only “CROATOAN” carved on a post and “CRO” on a tree provided any clue. White believed they had moved to nearby Croatoan Island, but storms prevented him from searching.

Theories

The colonists may have integrated with the Croatoan tribe. Later explorers reported Native Americans with European features and English words. The Lumbee tribe has traditions of colonial descent.

Some suggest disease, drought, or violence, but the careful dismantlement of buildings and the clue left behind suggest an organized departure, not disaster.

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115 people vanished, leaving only a word carved in wood. Were they absorbed into a native tribe? Did they perish? After 435 years, we still don’t know what happened to America’s first attempted colony.