Fort Raleigh National Historic Site

Coastal national historic site on Roanoke Island marking early English colonization, a Reconstruction-era freedmen's settlement, and early radio experiments.

1401 National Park Drive, Manteo, NC 27954 · Manteo, NC

About Fort Raleigh National Historic Site

This national historic site sits on Roanoke Island in the Outer Banks, where shallow waters and steady winds shape the landscape. It marks the place of the Roanoke Colony, an early English attempt to settle North America, and the mystery surrounding its disappearance has drawn visitors for generations. The grounds also recall a freedmen's settlement set up after the Civil War Battle of Roanoke Island, and the 20th-century work of an inventor who tested radio technology here. Visitors can walk two forested trails with shoreline views, visit beach areas on the north end of the island, and see the Waterside Theater, which has hosted an outdoor drama since 1937.

#colonial history
#Lost Colony
#Roanoke Island
#Outer Banks
#Civil War

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What's around here?

The closest stops to Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

Sports & Outdoors
Elizabethan Gardens
Check prices
A waterfront garden on the Outer Banks, set inside Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and run by a nonprofit.
Right next doorSwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors
Attractions
North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island
Check prices
A public aquarium on Roanoke Island featuring Outer Banks marine life, alligators, stingrays, and river otters.
1.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions
Sightseeing
Roanoke Island Festival Park
Under $25
A living-history park on Roanoke Island with a replica 16th-century ship, a recreated first English settlement, and an Outer Banks history museum.
3.1 mi awayMore like this
Sports & Outdoors
Outdoor Adventure
Jockey's Ridge State Park
No admission fee
Climb the tallest living sand dune system on the Atlantic coast, fly a kite, try hang gliding or watch the sun set over Roanoke Sound.
4.7 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors
Sightseeing
Iconic
Wright Brothers National Memorial
Under $25
Stand where the Wright brothers first flew in 1903, walk the flight line and climb to the granite monument.
6.1 mi awayMore like this
Sightseeing
History Buff
Bodie Island Lighthouse
No admission fee
See the black-and-white banded 1872 lighthouse over the marsh, and climb its 200-plus steps in season.
12 mi awayMore like this