{"nrhp_refnum":"66000102","name":"Fort Raleigh National Historic Site","other_names":["Lane's New Fort in Virginia","Cittie of Raleigh"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"4 mi. N of Manteo on U.S. 158","address_restricted":false,"city":"Manteo","county":"Dare County","state":"NC","lat":35.93872812950005,"lon":-75.70954051139094,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A roughly 14-acre nominated portion of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site at the north end of Roanoke Island, near Manteo, Dare County, North Carolina. It holds the 1950 reconstruction of Lane's New Fort in Virginia, built on the site of the 1585 English earthwork fort.","why_significant":"The site was the scene of the earliest English colonizing attempts on the North American continent, led by Sir Walter Raleigh, and the birthplace of Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World. The attempts, ending with the 1587 Lost Colony, preceded the successful settlement at Jamestown. The fort site is described as the only direct link with the Elizabethan age of English exploration in North America.","narrative":"Set on the wooded north end of Roanoke Island, this roughly 14-acre portion of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site preserves the location of the earthwork fort that Ralph Lane's English colonists built in 1585. The fort seen today is a 1950 reconstruction by National Park Service archeologist J.C. Harrington, based on documents, excavation and sixteenth-century military practice. It is a square earthwork with a ditch, a five-foot parapet and bastions, partly star-shaped. The colony was Sir Walter Raleigh's first attempt at English settlement in North America, and a second group followed in 1587, the Lost Colony, which vanished by 1590. Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World, was born here. Archeological searches between 1948 and 1965 found the fort site but not the village, which may lie beneath Roanoke Sound or elsewhere in the zone. Most of the surrounding 159-acre park is developed, so only this area retains historic integrity.","period_of_significance":"1585-1590","architect_builder":"Ralph Lane","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is listed as excellent and altered. The fort is a 1950 reconstruction, and the site of the colonists' village has not been found.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.585276-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/77/7198/47719877/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/66000102.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000102/8d1038b7ba-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000102/8d1038b7ba-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Sarah Stierch","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Raleigh_National_Historic_Site_earthworks_-_Sarah_Stierch.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Sarah Stierch</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Raleigh_National_Historic_Site_earthworks_-_Sarah_Stierch.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719877","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Raleigh_National_Historic_Site","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1438664"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/dare-county/fort-raleigh-national-historic-site-66000102/"}