Roanoke Island, NC

Place: Roanoke Island, NC
Weather: Mostly Sunny, 59/65F
Route: From Stagville Historic Site 222 miles east on I-540E and US-64E.

Significance: The first English settlement in North America - the "lost colony" of Roanoke. In 1584 the English were playing catch-up to Spain in terms of settlement of the New World. The initial excursions of the English into North America were mostly focused on disrupting the dominance of the Spanish in the Americas. England and Spain were the two major world super powers at the time. They would fight an informal war for much of the late 16th and early 17th century - punctuated by the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. There were expeditions in 1584 and 1585 to Roanoke Island, but it was the expedition of 1587 that would become known as the "lost colony." John White, the governor of the colony stayed on the island for only a month.  The only real "success" of the colony was the birth of the first English child in North America - Virginia Dare.
White hoped to return quickly back to Roanoke - however, the threat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 meant that all English resources had to be focused on defeating the Spanish - which they did. The appetite for English exploration of North America also waned, as it was expensive and seemingly wasn't paying dividends.  White wasn't able to convince anyone to finance his return to the colony until 1590.  He didn't find any surviving members of the colony. He only found the cryptic "croatan" carved into a palisade post.  He was stopped from searching for survivors by a storm and returned to England not knowing the fate of the colonists.  England wouldn't be successful in forming a permanent colony until 16 years later in Jamestown.
Website: Fort Raleigh Historic Site National Park Service.

Video:

 National Geographic Society video on the lost colony