National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory
May 2010
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
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http://archive.org/details/culturallandscap002010
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Inventory Unit Summary and Site Plan
Inventory Unit
Cultural Landscape Inventory Name: Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Cultural Landscape Inventory Number: [To be provided by SEROJ
Parent Cultural Landscape Inventory Name: Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Parent Cultural Landscape Inventory Number: [To be provided by SEROJ Park Name: Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Park Alpha Code: FORA Park Org Code: 5185
Landscape Description:
The Fort Raleigh National Historic Site landscape is located on the northern end of Roanoke Island in Dare County, North Carolina. Roanoke Island is located between the mainland of North Carolina and the barrier islands known as the North Carolina Outer Banks. The National Historic Site is approximately three miles north of the town of Manteo and eight and one-half miles northwest of the town of Wanchese. Roanoke Sound forms the northern boundary of the historic site and is visible from several areas of the site.
The National Historic Site is accessible from U.S. Highway 264, which intersects the property at the south end. U.S. Highway 264 and U.S. Highway 64 are the primary roads from the mainland to the northern portion of the Outer Banks and since the 1920s the principal route to Roanoke Island. An access road off U.S. Highway 264 leads to the administrative offices, visitor center, and parking lot. A paved pathway leads visitors to the reconstructed fort, an early commemorative marker, and the Waterside Theatre. Additional features include a park roadway leading to the maintenance facilities, park quarters, and the Dough Cemetery — a graveyard for members of the Dough family who once owned property now included within the National Historic Site.
The National Historic Site retains a park-like quality with forest cover, wetlands, and landscaped grounds as well as asphalt drives and parking facilities. Most of the National Historic Site is wooded, but there are open expanses including areas in the vicinity of the Waterside Theatre, the visitor center, the reconstructed fort, and the western edge of the park near the Dough Cemetery. Partners with the Park include the Roanoke Island Historical Association (RIHA), which produces the outdoor drama The Lost Colony. The park owns and maintains the Waterside Theatre facilities. There is a separate entrance to the theater from the parking lots for the nightly presentation of the play. Also located within the National Historic Site is the Elizabethan Gardens, which is owned by the RIHA and leased to the Garden Club of North Carolina, which is responsible for its management.
Features of the cultural landscape at the National Historic Site are part of the two periods of significance listed in the National Register nomination. Although there is no physical evidence above ground of the settlements in 1584, 1585-1586, 1587, and 1590 (the first period of significance), archeological resources potentially remain that date to this period of attempts at permanent settlements. The work of Ivor Hume and Nick Luccketti at the site in 1991- 1995 supported the hypothesis that the original settlement site is now offshore, beneath the sound.
The second period of significance is listed as 1860-1953. During this period, focus was brought to the preservation and commemoration of the site. The years 1896, 1930s, and 1947-1953 were identified as specific dates of importance and correlate with the development of significant man-made site features that enhanced the interpretive value of the landscape. Those features of the landscape today include the Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument, the Waterside Theatre, interpretation of the "Cittie of Ralegh," interpretation of the outwork (also referred to as the
Cultural Landscape Inventory - May 2010 Page 1 of 97
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
"science center"), the Thomas Hariot Trail, the Elizabethan Gardens, the memorials of Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech in the park and his attendance at the twenty-third performance of The Lost Colony, restoration of natural vegetation, erosion control measures at Dough Cemetery and Waterside Theatre, reconstructed earthwork fort based on archeological studies performed by Jean D. Harrington, and the Freedmen's Colony interpretation and First Light of Freedom monument.
A third period of significance is associated with Mission 66 development at the park from 1963-1966. At this time the Visitor Center, Outer Banks Group Support Office (formerly the Cape Hatteras Group Headquarters), the plaza and walk complex adjacent these builidngs, the Lost Colony Activities Building, the four staff residence on Pear Pad Road, and the restroom building and generator rooms near the Outer Banks Group Support Office were constructed.
Inventory Unit Size (acres): 355.45 acres (authorized boundary of park); 16+/- acres (National Register)
Property Level: Landscape
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Site Plan
Freedman's Point
Weir Point
FORT RALEIGH
NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
(Legislative boundary)
0 250 500
FIGURE 1. Overall site plan, not to scale. Source: JMA 2010. (Base map developed using GIS data from NPS Southeast Regional office with aerial image obtained from Landsat)
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FORT RALEfGH N ATI d HISTORIC STTE
Theatre Parking (c. 1 962)
^^^
^-Lindsay C. Warren Visitor Center
Earthwork Fort c. 1 585, reconstructed 934-/937, 1947-1953)
(1965-1966)
Visitor Center / Plaza (c.1965)
^
Light Towers <" (2010)
Men's Dressing—;' Room (I960)
Costume Shop (2007)
I
l
*
Restroom (1965)
•v.
-Pavilion (c. 1 980)
Vicinity of "Science Center"(c.l58S-IS86)
Outer Banks Group Support Office (1965)
A *
#
— Lost Colony Maintenance Facility (2010)
- Lost Colony Storage Facility (2010)
Wa
^ Generators (1966)
- Waterside Theatre and support buildings (1937, reconstructed /947, / 960-/962, / 998-2001, 2007)
Lost Colony Activities Building (1965)
Thomas Hariot Nature Trail (I960)
h
0 50 100
200
*
psRft
Monuments ^_ ^^^Axi
A. First Light of Freedom Monument (2001)
B. Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument (1896, relocated 1934-1937, 1950)
C. FDR Marker (1937)
D. Paul Green Sculpture (1981)
E. Albert Quentin Bell Plaque ( 1 967)
F. Franklin D. Roosevelt Theater Marker (1937)
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Legend
Park Boundary
Shoreline
Trail/Sidewalk
Earthwork
Building
Monument
Plaza
FIGURE 2. Detail site plan of visitor services area. Source: JMA 2010. (Base map developed using GIS data from NPS Southeast Regional office with aerial image obtained from Landsat)
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
CLI Hierarchy Description
The Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is classified as a primary landscape in the CLI database. The boundaries of the landscape were established to include all of the significant cultural landscape features within the historic site.
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Cultural Landscape Inventory - May 2010
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
c
Concurrence Status f
Inventory Unit •
Inventory Unit Completion Status: Incomplete
Completion Status Explanatory Narrative: £
All documentation entered in this database inventory unit was obtained from the Cultural Landscape Inventory for fr f/?e For/ Raleigh National Historic Site, prepared by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., and John Milner
Associates, Inc., in 2010. The information was entered into the CLI database by staff of the Southeast Regional £
Office. ^
Historical research for the CLI project was performed by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., on site at the park • *
archives, and also in the archives of the Outer Banks History Center, a regional archives and research library
administered by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources Office of Architects and History and located ^
in Manteo, North Carolina. The material reviewed included correspondence; photographs; records of archeological
investigations; documentation related to the history, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of the Waterside Theatre;
material related to the history and production of the play, The Lost Colony; and various publications. Electronic £
copies of National Park Service documents were provided by Southeast Regional Office staff. Additional archival _
documents, drawings, and maps were obtained from the National Park Service Denver Service Center. Research was ™
also conducted online to obtain digital reference materials from sources such as the Library of Congress. £
Analysis and evaluation involved documenting key landscape components and analyzing the evolution of landscape (
development. John Milner Associates, Inc. conducted the field survey to document current conditions during May of ^_
2009. Based on the history of the landscape and the evaluation of historic landscape features and patterns, landscape ^
significance was determined. Comparative analysis between the existing conditions and the historic maps and 4T photographs was then used to define the type and concentration of historic resources remaining in the Fort Raleigh
National Historic Site. From this information, cultural landscape integrity was determined. ^
c
Park Superintendent Concurrence: [To be completed by SEROJ
Park Superintendent Date of Concurrence: [To be completed by SEROJ f
National Register Eligibility: [To be completed by SEROJ C
(r National Register Eligibility Concurrence Date: [To be completed bv SEROJ ^
c
National Register Concurrence Explanatory Narrative: [To be completed by SEROJ
Revisions ^
C
N/A c
K K
C C t
c c
c
Cultural Landscape Inventory - May 2010 Page 6 of 97 *■
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Geographic Information and Location Map
Inventory Unit
Inventory Unit Boundary Description:
The Fort Raleigh landscape unit incorporates the Waterside Theatre and the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, including the reconstructed earthen fortification, a monument commemorating the Roanoke colonists, and the Dough cemetery, as listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The park boundaries enclose 513 acres divided among three different owners: the federal government, 355 acres; the State of North Carolina, 18 acres; and private entities, 140 acres.
Park Management Unit: FORA
Land Tract Numbers:
01-101,01-103, 01-105 through 01-109, 01-1 11, 01-1 14 through 01-1 18, 01-121, and 01-122
GIS File Names:
All files were provided by the National Park Service Southeast Regional Office.
buildings. shp — buildings within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore as polygons
DareRoads.shp — all roads within Dare County
DareNC08 lnc.sid — 2008 aerial photograph of Dare County, Landsat image
fora.shp — Fort Raleigh park boundary as polygon
foraglg.shp — geomorphic data units at Fort Raleigh
LotsPolygons.shp — developed areas within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore as polygons
manteol.sid — infrared aerial coverage of Fort Raleigh (1 of 4)
manteo2.sid — infrared aerial coverage of Fort Raleigh (2 of 4)
manteo3.sid — infrared aerial coverage of Fort Raleigh (3 of 4)
manteo4.sid — infrared aerial coverage of Fort Raleigh (4 of 4)
Trails. shp — designated trails within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Vegetation. dbf — Vegetation zones and classes
Wrecks. shp — Locations of known shipwrecks as points
State and County
State: North Carolina (NC)
County: Dare
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
|
Boundary (UTM) |
|||
|
Zone |
Easting |
Northing |
|
|
A |
18 |
436060 |
3977270 |
|
B |
18 |
436060 |
3977160 |
|
C |
18 |
436130 |
3977130 |
|
D |
18 |
436100 |
3977040 |
|
E |
18 |
435830 |
3977040 |
|
F |
18 |
435790 |
3977260 |
UTM data as stated in National Register nomination.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Location Map
Atlantic Ocean
Duck Southern Shores
Kitty Hawk
\ Kill Devil Hills Fort Raleigh \ National Historic Siter > Nag
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BUXl0n ' M$» Lightnouse
Hatteras
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FIGURE 3. Location map. Source: Outer Banks Vacation Guide web site, <www.visitob.com/outer_banks/ trip/map. htm>, accessed October 13, 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Regional Landscape Context
Type of Context: Physiographic
Description:
The Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is located on Roanoke Island, between the North Carolina mainland and the barrier islands of the Outer Banks that run from the Virginia/North Carolina border south to Cape Lookout. The island is bordered by Roanoke Sound to the east, Croatan Sound to the west, Albemarle Sound to the north, and Pamlico Sound to the south. It is twelve miles long and three miles wide at its widest point and is nearly bisected by wet marsh and tidal creeks. The topography of the island is relatively flat in the south and rises gradually to the north.
Roanoke Island is located in the northeastern portion of the lower Coastal Plain physiographic region of North Carolina. The Coastal Plain has three sub-regions, one of which is the Lower Coastal Plain-Barrier Island Region, which extends along the entire coast of North Carolina and includes Roanoke Island. The average elevation of the island is ten feet above mean sea level (AMSL), with the highest elevation being twenty-two feet AMSL at the northeast end. This end of Roanoke Island has well defined sand bluffs overlaying a Holocene deposit that ranges from a few feet to fifteen or twenty feet in depth.
Most of the underlying soil of the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is Baymeade fine sand, which is deep, well- drained, and moderately fertile with some capabilities for supporting structures. Typical vegetation includes turkey oak (Quercus cerris), long-leaf pine (Pinus palustris), dwarf huckleberry {Gaylussacia dumosa), wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera), wire grass (Aristida stricta), and aster {Aster sp.). Soils on the west end of the National Historic Site, just north of U.S. Highway 264, are primarily mucks, highly organic soils that dominate in wet conditions between estuaries and streams. The north shore of the National Historic Site is dominated by Fripp fine sand formed from sandy sediments. This soil has extremely high permeability and relatively low fertility. Native vegetation includes wax myrtle, long-leaf pine, live oak (Q. virginiana), slash pine (P. elliottii), loblolly pine (P. tceda), sand pine (P. clausa), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), American holly (Ilex opaca), black cherry (Primus serotina), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica), cherrybark oak (Q. pagoda), hickory (Catya sp.), sea oats (Uniola paniculata), seacoast bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium var. littorale), and other beach grasses (USDA "Web Soil Survey," <websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/HomePage.htm>, accessed October 1, 2009).
The above information is summarized from Lou Groh, Jack Walker, and Guy Prentice, with contributions by Julie Williams, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Archeological Overview and Assessment, SEAC Ace. No. 1 333 (Tallahassee, Florida: National Park Service Southeast Archeological Center, 2002), 13-16.
Type of Context: Cultural
Description:
The Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is located on sparsely populated Roanoke Island in Dare County, North Carolina, between the barrier islands and the mainland. The current land area of the island is 17.95 square miles and in 2000, the population was 6,724 persons. Most of the population lives in or near either the town of Manteo in the northern half of the island on Shallowbag Bay, or in Wanchese, located in the southern third of the island. Tourism and fishing remain the principal industries. Much of the south half of the island is designated as conservation areas, while other land uses include community residential (from U.S. Highway 64 north to the National Historic Site), community neighborhood, community village (Wanchese), urban transition, and incorporated areas that have their own Land Use Plans and Land Classification Maps (Dare County).
U.S. Highway 64 crosses through the center of the island, leading east-to-west from the barrier islands to the North Carolina mainland. A main north-south road intersects U.S. Highway 64 at the midpoint of the island, following generally along the higher elevations that form the spine of the island. South of U.S. Highway 64, this north-south road is designated State Highway 345 and leads to Wanchese; north of U.S. Highway 64, this north-south road is
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
designated U.S. Highway 264. As U.S. Highway 264, this roadway passes through Manteo and the National Historic Site and over the Manns Harbor Bridge to rejoin U.S. Highway 64 on the mainland.
Larger land divisions tend to follow historic patterns that established almost every lot with a waterfront edge. Within this larger pattern, more recent subdivisions have developed that generally reflect the overall historic patterns in orientation. The areas that remain largely undeveloped are primarily marshland.
The above information is summarized from Lou Groh, Jack Walker, and Guy Prentice, with contributions by Julie Williams, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Archeological Overview and Assessment, SEAC Ace. No. 1333 (Tallahassee, Florida: National Park Service Southeast Archeological Center, 2002), 13; and Brian T. Crumley, Roanoke Island Special Resource Studv (Atlanta, Georgia: National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office, 2005), 1-3.
Type of Context: Political
Description:
The Fort Raleigh National Historic Site was created by legislation enacted by Congress in 1941. However, the site had been open to the public since 1 896, when the Roanoke Colony Memorial Association (RCMA) held dedication ceremonies for the Fort Raleigh historic site it had obtained in 1 894.
The Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is located in Dare County, North Carolina, about three miles north of the village of Manteo on Roanoke Island, which lies between the Outer Banks and the North Carolina mainland. The National Historic Site is located within the Third Congressional District of North Carolina. Of the total 512.93 acres contained within the park's current authorized boundary, land transfers and purchases have established National Park Service ownership at 355.45 acres. The state of North Carolina owns 18.09 acres, and the remaining 139.39 acres are privately owned. Lands adjacent to the National Park Service boundary are a patchwork of state, federally, and privately-owned holdings.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Management Information
Inventory Unit
Management Category:
Must be Preserved and Maintained
Management Category Date:
April 5, 1941
Management Category Explanatory Narrative:
The Fort Raleigh National Historic Site meets all of the criteria for Management Category A, Must be Preserved and Maintained. Fort Raleigh National Historic Park was established by order of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior on April 5, 1941, which states that: "Certain lands and historical remains on the northern end of Roanoke Island, Dare County, North Carolina, are declared by the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and Monuments to be of national significance as a portion of the colonial settlement or settlements established in America by Sir Walter Raleigh 1585-1587." These lands are historically associated with the initial failed attempt to establish an English colony in the New World and with the history of American Indians, European Americans, and African Americans who lived on Roanoke Island, North Carolina. The Lost Colony, the nation's first symphonic outdoor drama, is staged near the site where the lost colony mystery began over 400 years ago.
Public Law 87-147, dated August 17, 1961, authorized the National Park Service to acquire additional lands (approximately 125 acres) to be administered as part of the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site in accordance with the National Park Service Organic Act. Public Law 101-603, dated November 16, 1990, expanded the purpose of the site. This act also authorized the acquisition of approximately 335 acres. The 1990 act states: "The purpose of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site . . . shall be the preservation and interpretation of ( 1 ) the first English colony in the New World; and (2) the history of the Native Americans, European Americans, and African Americans who lived on Roanoke Island, North Carolina."
Adjacent Lands Information
Do Adjacent Lands Contribute?
Yes — Adjacent lands do contribute.
Adjacent Lands Description:
Lands adjacent to the National Historic Site contain significant historic features related to the Civil War-era Freedmen's Colony and the research facilities used by Reginald Fessenden circa 1901 1902, as well as archeological sites related to prehistoric and American Indian use of the site, and sixteenth-century exploration and settlement of the area. As defined in Public Law 101-603 (104 Stat. 3065), approved November 16, 1990, the purpose of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is the preservation and interpretation of the first English colony in the New World and the history of American Indian, European, and African-American settlement on Roanoke Island.
The rural character of Roanoke Island and the surrounding water bodies that form the boundaries of the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site contribute to its significance and integrity. The entire history of the site is linked to early American Indian habitation on the island and the early attempts at colonization from across the Atlantic. Lands adjacent to the historic site at present consist of residential complexes. The remainder of the island has development associated with the village of Manteo, conservations lands, and community village land associated with the Town of Wanchese on the southern end of the island.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
The boundaries of the National Historic Site also encompass the physical locations of two park partners and the Outer Banks Group Support Office. The Park is home to the outdoor symphonic drama, The Lost Colony, performed in the Waterside Theatre since 1937. The drama is produced and presented by the RJHA, but the facilities are owned and maintained by the National Park Service. Also located within the National Historic Site is the Elizabethan Gardens, which is owned by the RIHA and leased to the Garden Club of North Carolina, which is responsible for its management.
The enabling legislation of 1941 and amended in 1990, which created Fort Raleigh National Historic Site established the "legislative boundary" which included a number of private properties. That legislation has no legal effect on to how the private parties can use their lands, but it does make clear that the National Park Service should endeavor to acquire such properties.
Type of Agreement: Continuing Agreement
Expiration Date: December 2010
Management Agreement Explanatory Narrative:
A Continuing Agreement exists between the National Park Service and the RIHA dealing with performance of The Lost Colony play.
Type of Agreement: Memorandum of Agreement Expiration Date: Unknown
Management Agreement Explanatory Narrative:
A Memorandum of Agreement exists between the Garden Club of North Carolina and the RIHA. The NPS is not a party to this agreement, as the work of the Garden Club of North Carolina is related to land owned by the RIHA rather than by the NPS.
Type of Agreement: Memorandum of Understanding
Expiration Date: December 31, 2010
Management Agreement Explanatory Narrative:
A Memorandum of Understanding exists between the NPS and the First Colony Foundation under which the Fiist Colony Foundation will provide archeological investigation work at Fort Raleigh.
Type of Agreement: Memorandum of Understanding
Expiration Date: December 20, 2012
Management Agreement Explanatory Narrative:
A Memorandum of Understanding exists between the NPS and the Roanoke Island Volunteer Fire Department.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
NPS Legal Interest
Type of Legal Interest:
Fee Simple
NPS Legal Interest Explanatory Narrative:
[To be provided by SEROJ
Public Access to Site
Public Access:
With Permission
Public Access Explanatory Narrative:
The park grounds of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site are open for visitation year round during daylight hours, from sunup to sundown. In the summer, the grounds are open until the presentation of The Lost Colony drama is completed for the evening. The Lost Colony outdoor symphonic drama is presented nightly (except Sundays) from early June to late August.
The park visitor center is open year round (except for Christmas Day) from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. During the summer from June through August, the visitor center is open until 6:00 p.m.
Parking lots are provided on the site for visitors to the park, the Elizabethan Gardens, and the Waterside Theatre.
FMSS Asset
FMSS Asset Location Code:
[To be provided by SEROJ
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
National Register Information
Inventory Unit
National Register Landscape Documentation: Entered - Inadequately Documented
National Register Landscape Documentation Date: November 16, 1978, and March 5, 1999
National Register Explanatory Narrative:
As a National Historic Site, Fort Raleigh was automatically entered in the National Register of Historic Places when the Register came into existence in 1966. The site was documented in a National Register nomination form on November 20, 1976, and entered into the National Register on November 16, 1978. Additional documentation for the nomination was prepared in November 1998 and accepted by the National Register on March 5, 1999. The original National Register documentation listed as a contributing resource the reconstructed earthwork fort (1947— 1953).
The initial National Register nomination prepared in 1978 does not specifically reference the National Register evaluation criteria in its statement of significance for Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. However, based on the narrative provided in the nomination, the criteria applicable to Fort Raleigh are as follows: Criterion A for its association with the settlement of Roanoke Island circa 1585, the earliest English attempt to colonize on North America, and Criterion D, as the site is could yield further information important in prehistory or history.
The National Register of Historic Places Additional Documentation for Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, prepared in November 1998, expands on the site's significance relating to Criterion A by including discussion of the preservation and commemoration efforts on the site that occurred from 1860 through 1953. The additional documentation also identifies new contributing resources including the "science center," the Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument, the F.D.R. Marker, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Theater Marker, and the Fort Raleigh reconstructed fort. The National Register Additional Documentation also notes that the site is potentially significant under Criterion D as related to Civil War activities on Roanoke Island, the Freedman's Colony (1863 to 1866), and the WPA-era Camp Wirth, although the documentation notes that further archeological study is required, in particular to confirm which resources are on park lands.
The National Register Additional Documentation nomination lists as relevant Criterion Consideration B, a building or structure removed from its original location but which is the surviving structure most importantly associated with a historic person or event; Criteria Consideration D, a cemetery which derives its primary significance from graves of persons of transcendent importance, from age or from association with historic events; Criteria Consideration E, a reconstructed building when accurately executed in a suitable environment and presented in a dignified manner as part of a restoration master plan, and when no other building or structure with the same association has survived; Criteria Consideration F, a property that is primarily commemorative in intent; and Criteria Consideration G, a property achieving significance within the past fifty years.
Criterion B, property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past, is not noted as applicable in the National Register nomination but is considered relevant to this site, with respect to research done by Reginald Fessenden on the site which led to the first successful application of an adaptable technique of radio communications in North America.
Criterion C, property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction, is not noted as applicable in the National Register nomination but is considered relevant to this site with respect to the Mission 66 era improvements made from 1963 through 1966.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Significance Criteria
A: Associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.
B: Associated with the lives of persons significant in our past
C: The property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents
the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose
components may lack individual distinction.
D: Has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
National Register Eligibility: Eligible - Keeper
National Register Eligibility Concurrence Date: November 16, 1978
National Register Concurrence Explanatory Narrative:
Following preparation of the National Register documentation in 1978, an amendment to the original documentation was prepared to provide additional information about the site. As noted in the amendment: "In 1990 the U.S. Congress expended the historic themes, purpose, and authorized boundary of the park site ... to include areas associated with the Civil War, the Freedman's Bureau, and early experiments in radio technology." The expanded National Register boundary included contributing historic resources that had previously been excluded.
National Register Significance Level: National
National Register Significance - Contributing/Individual: Individual
National Register Classification: Site
National Historic Landmark Status: No
World Heritage Site Status: No
Statement of Significance
As stated in the National Register documentation:
Fort Raleigh and the settlement on Roanoke Islands North Carolina, became in 1585 the scene of the earliest English colonizing attempts on the North American continent, and the birthplace of the first English child born in the New World, Virginia Dare. The unsuccessful attempts by Sir Walter Raleigh to establish a settlement on Roanoke Island (culminating in 1587 with the "Lost Colony") were a prelude to the successful colonization at Jamestown, one of the two settlement centers from which English domination spread out over eastern America. Fort Raleigh is our only direct link with the Elizabethan age of English exploration in North America, and the site of England's first concrete experiences with the North American mainland.
Today, the site is dominated by the reconstruction of Fort Raleigh completed in 1950. This reconstruction was based on historical and archeological research beginning in 1935, interrupted by WWII, and resumed in 1947. The reconstruction was based on documentary evidence, results of the archeological investigations, and a study of existing precedent and military practice in the last decades of the 16th century. When complete, the restored fort, though conjectural in some details, was a reasonably accurate reconstruction. A compromise with authenticity was the sodding of the earth surfaces to prevent the restoration from suffering the same fate, erosion, which had befallen the original.
While the site of the fort has been located, the site of the village has not.Erosion has reduced the distance from fort to Roanoke Sound from a quarter mile to 600 feet. It is possible that the village site is beneath the waters of the sound, or that the site still remains to be found within the historic zone. What remains today is an area surrounded on three sides by modern development containing the site of the fort erected by the first English colonists and the "swecte woods" that are mentioned in narratives of the time.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
As further stated in the National Register of Historic Places, Additional Documentation for Fort Raleigh National Historic Site:
[The National Register documentation] assesses the eligibility and evaluates the integrity of the site's cultural resources within two contexts. These contexts relate to historic themes identified by the National Park Service and the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). The following contexts have been development for this amendment:
A. The Roanoke colonies and Fort Raleigh, c. 1584-1590
B. Fort Raleigh National Historic Site: Preservation and Recognition, c. 1860-1953
Context A, "The Roanoke Colonies and Fort Raleigh," addresses the long recognized context for the site, "English Exploration and Settlement on Roanoke Island and the Outer Banks of North Carolina, 1585-1590," and describes the unsuccessful English colonies on the island. This context is related to the National Park Service (NPS) theme of Peopling Places, as well as certain aspects of North Carolina history, such as English Exploration and Settlement of the Carolinas.
Context B, "Fort Raleigh National Historic Site: Preservation and Recognition," outlines the early preservation and commemoration of the Roanoke colonies and the fortification known as Fort Raleigh, as well as its connection to national preservation movements. This context relates to the themes of Creating Social Institutions and Movements and Expressing Cultural Values. It also reflects certain aspects of North Carolina history, such as Historic Preservation and Social and Humanitarian Movements.
Significance of Context A, as stated in the National Register of Historic Places, Additional Documentation for Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (Section 8, page 17):
Context A, "The Roanoke colonies and Fort Raleigh, circa 1584 1590."
The site of the science center associated with the Roanoke colonies has national significance under National Register (NR) Criterion D (Information Potential). It represents the only tangible evidence of the Elizabethan age in North America and marks the site of the first English colonizing efforts, which led the way for future successful English colonies in the New World. The science center is nationally significant under NR Criterion D for the proven potential of its archeological resources to yield information on the first English settlement in North America. Although there are no extant structures, and the settlement site and fortification have yet to be located, the archeological findings over the last fifty years document the establishment of a sixteenth-century science center within the NHS boundary which is eligible for National Register.
Significance of Context B, as stated in the National Register of Historic Places, Additional Documentation for Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (Section 8, page 43):
Context B, "Fort Raleigh National Historic Site: Preservation and Recognition, 1860-1953." While the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is nationally significant for its association with early English colonization efforts in North America (see context A), the preservation and commemoration efforts of the site for more than 135 years represent an additional area of significance. The site is exceptional for the degree of local and state attention and for the richness of its historical associations. Both the Fort Raleigh Reconstructed Earthwork Fort and the Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument are significant for their connection with successive efforts to preserve evidence of, recognize, and celebrate early English exploration and settlement in the New World. Specifically, they were intended to underline the unsuccessful colonization of what was then known as Virginia in the period between 1584 and 1590, when the English first discovered Roanoke Island, sent settlers there, and then found the colony abandoned. They therefore relate to the "broad patterns" of American history (National Register Criterion A). They are significant at the state and local levels as representative of early preservation efforts of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, when antiquarian and patriotic groups first began to systematically recognize, commemorate, and protect buildings and sites of historic significance.
The Waterside Theatre is associated with the North Carolina playwright Paul Green and "The Lost Colony" production, an important part of the commemorative efforts at the site. It also reflects the efforts to recognize and celebrate the early English exploration and settlement in the New World, especially the Roanoke colonies. In addition, the theater is linked with the Federal Theater Project and other New Deal programs. Camp Wirth and the Franklin D. Roosevelt markers are also associated with these important events. Camp Wirth may be significant for the information it may provide concerning New Deal programs on the Outer
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Banks of North Carolina (Criterion D). The Roosevelt markers, on the other hand, reflect local and state efforts to commemorate the site of the Roanoke colonies and Virginia Dare on the 350th anniversary of her birth. In addition, they mark President Franklin D. Roosevelt's attendance at this event and its importance to area residents. As such, the markers may be locally significant under this context (Criterion A).
Another resource from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is the Dough family cemetery. The Doughs probably moved to Roanoke Island in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century; the 1 790 census records a number of families by the name of Dough living in the area, and an 1 820 map notes that a branch of the family lived on the north end of Roanoke Island. In 1849 Thomas A. Dough obtained a land grant from the state for his family's acreage on the north end of the island, making their ownership of the property official. The family homestead included a house, which was probably built sometime in the early nineteenth century, several acres of farmland, and a cemetery. In 1894 the Roanoke Colony Memorial Association purchased the Dough homestead (containing approximately 250 acres) for $1 ,300. For another S200, W. T. Dough and his wife sold the association the ten acres of farm land on the north end of the island containing the "Old Fort Raleigh tract." The remaining elements of the Dough farmstead (mainly the cemetery) may be eligible under Criterion A, Event, as representative of a typical nineteenth century farmstead of the area.
In the nomination, the "science center," Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument, FDR marker, Franklin D. Roosevelt theater marker, and the reconstructed earthen fort are identified as contributing resources. The Dough family cemetery, Waterside Theatre, and Camp Wirth are designated in the nomination as non-contributing. The Camp Wirth designation was derived because the buildings are no longer extant except for earthen mounds and remnants of concrete foundations. However, the National Register nomination noted that the site was potentially eligible as an archeological site.
In addition, with reference to Criterion D, a property that has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history, the site is significant in terms of its association with the American Civil War. Roanoke Island was home to three Confederate forts and was the site of an important battle in February 1862 in which the Union took control of the island and thus controlled access to coastal Carolina. The site is also significant for the establishment of a Freedman's colony on Roanoke Island. Following the victory of Union forces, the island became a refuge for African-American slaves. In May 1863, a colony of former slaves was established on the northern end of Roanoke Island with money donated by the Freedman's Association in Boston and New York. The short-lived settlement lasted until Union forces withdrew from the area in 1866. Despite its brief existence, the colony was significant as a settlement for freed African-American slaves in the south during the Civil War period.
Although not addressed in the National Register nomination, the site is further significant in terms of Criterion C, the property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction, in terms of its Mission 66 features, the property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction. Mission 66 played an important role in the development of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and as a result of Mission 66 planning and initiatives, from 1963 through 1966 the visitor center, visitor center plaza, Outer Banks Group Support Office, Lost Colony Activities Building, restroom building, generator rooms, four staff residences, and related circulation and parking were constructed at the site.
The visitor center as well as the adjacent Outer Banks Group Support Office, Lost Colony Activities Building restroom building, generator rooms, and associated visitor center plaza are characteristic of visitor center complexes constructed during the later years of the Mission 66 program. While early Mission 66 visitor centers were single, centralized buildings, some visitor centers constructed in the later years of the program were broken up into separate buildings based on function and placed around a central terrace or courtyard. The Mission 66 structures are characterized by low slope, hip roofs and diagonal wood tongue and groove siding. Decorative wood siding was a common characteristic among the decentralized visitor centers constructed in during the later portions of the Mission 66 program.
Additionally, the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is significant under Criterion B, as the property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. In 1901, Reginald Fessenden erected transmitters throughout the Outer Banks area with the main experimental station being located on the north end of Roanoke Island. Fessenden's
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research led to the first successful application of an adaptable technique of radio communications in North America. Fessenden's pioneering experiments improved radio transmission and communication. He went on to invent SONAR, the aircraft radio altimeter, and the turbo-electric drive for large vessels. A concrete slab, once used to support the power turbine for the transmitter, is visible at low tide three hundred yards off the northwest shore of Roanoke Island and provides physical evidence of Fessenden's experiments.
The National Register nomination lists Criterion Consideration B, a building or structure removed from its original location but which is the surviving structure most importantly associated with a historic person or event; Criteria Consideration D, a cemetery which derives its primary significance from graves of persons of transcendent importance, from age or from association with historic events; Criteria Consideration E, a reconstructed building when accurately executed in a suitable environment and presented in a dignified manner as part of a restoration master plan, and when no other building or structure with the same association has survived; Criteria Consideration F, a property that is primarily commemorative in intent; and Criteria Consideration G, a property achieving significance within the past fifty years, as relevant.
National Register Significance Criteria
Significance Criteria
A: Associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.
B: Associated with the lives of persons significant in our past
C: The property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents
the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose
components may lack individual distinction.
D: Has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
National Register Significance Criteria Considerations
Criteria Considerations
B: Removed from original location.
D: Cemetery.
E: Reconstructed building, object, or structure.
F: Commemorative property.
G: Less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
National Register Period of Significance
Two periods of significance are listed in the National Register nomination. The first period, 1584—1590, represents the attempts by the English, under the charter of Sir Walter Raleigh, to establish a permanent colony in the New World. The dates 1584, 1585-1586, 1587, and 1590 were identified as significant dates in the colonization of Roanoke Island.
The second period of significance is listed as 1860-1953. During this time period, focus was brought to the preservation and commemoration of the site. The dates 1896, 1930s, and 1947-1953 were identified as specific dates of importance and correlate with the development of significant man-made site features that enhanced the interpretive value of the landscape.
A third period of significance not listed in the National Register documentation is that associated with Mission 66 development at the park. From 1963-1966, as part of this effort, the Visitor Center, Outer Banks Group Support Office, the plaza and walk complex adjacent these builidngs, the Lost Colony Activities Building, the four staff residence on Pear Pad Road, and the restroom building and generator rooms near the Outer Banks Group Support Office were constructed.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Historic Context Theme
Historic Context Theme:
Sub-theme:
Facet:
Historic Context Theme:
Sub-theme:
Facet:
Historic Context Theme:
Sub-theme:
Facet:
Historic Context Theme:
Sub-theme:
Facet:
Historic Context Theme:
Sub-theme:
Facet:
Historic Context Theme:
Sub-theme:
Facet:
Peopling Places
Ethno-history of Indigenous American Populations
Establishing Intercultural Relations
Peopling Places
Colonial Exploration and Settlement
English Exploration and Settlement
Peopling Places
Development of the Colonies
Physical Development; Social and Economic Affairs
Expressing Cultural Values
Architecture
NPS Mission 66
Expressing Cultural Values Landscape Architecture NPS Mission 66
Expressing Cultural Values
Theater
Festivals and Events
Historic Context Theme: Shaping the Political Landscape
Sub-theme: Facet:
Historic Context Theme:
Sub-theme:
Facet:
Historic Context Theme:
Sub-theme:
Facet:
Historic Context Theme:
Sub-theme:
Facet:
Early Military Landscapes (pre- 1776)
N/A
Shaping the Political Landscape
The Civil War
Conquest and Emancipation; Abolishment of Slavery
Developing the American Economy
Communication
Radio
Expanding Science and Technology Technology (Engineering and Invention) Information Processing, Transmission, and Recording
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Historic Context Theme: Transforming the Environment
Sub-theme: Historic Preservation
Facet: Regional Efforts: The South, 1860-1900: The South Looks to Government for
Help
Historic Context Theme: Transforming the Environment
Sub-theme: Historic Preservation
Facet: The Federal Government Enters the Movement, 1884-1949: Archeological
Preservation; the National Park Service and the New Deal
National Register Areas of Significance
Category:
Identified in the National Register Nomination Amendment: Archeology, Historic - Non-Aboriginal Exploration/Settlement Conservation
Additional Relevant Categories:
Architecture
Communications
Ethnic Heritage
Military
Performing Arts
Science
NRIS Information
Park Alpha Code/NRIS Name (Number): FORA/66000 1 02
Primary Certification Date: October 15, 1966
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Chronology and Physical History
Inventory Unit Primary Historic Function
01 G: Domestic Village Site Other Historic Functions
05 D: Education-Research Facility
07 A: Funerary-Cemetery
08 AA: Recreation/Culture-Amphitheater
08 H: Recreation/Culture Monument (Marker, Plaque) 13 B: Defense-Fortification
Primary Current Use
08 J: Recreation/Culture— Other
Other Current Uses
08 C: Recreation/Culture — Museum (Exhibition Hall) 08 AA: Recreation/Culture-Amphitheater
Current and Historic Names
Cittie of Ralegh - Historic
Roanoac - Historic
Roanoke Colony Historic
Sir Walter Raleigh's Fort - Historic
Fort Raleigh - Historic
Fort Raleigh State Park - Historic
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site - Current
|
Cultural Landscape Type |
|
|
Historic Site |
|
|
Chronology |
|
|
Year |
Event |
|
1578 |
Planned |
|
1584 |
Planned |
|
1584 |
Explored |
|
1585 |
Colonized |
|
1586 |
Abandoned |
Annotation
Gilbert Charter
Raleigh Charter
Expedition led by Amadas and Barlowe arrived at Roanoke Island
Expedition led by Richard Grenville arrived at Roanoke Island
Outpost abandoned
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|
1587 |
Colonized |
|
1590 |
Explored |
|
1848 |
Purchased/Sold |
|
1862 |
Military Operation |
|
1862 |
Settled |
|
1867 |
Abandoned |
|
1894 |
Established |
|
1895 |
Excavated |
|
1896 |
Built |
|
1896 |
Memorialized |
|
1901-1902 |
Built |
|
1902 |
Memorialized |
|
1910 |
Land Transfer |
|
1924 |
Damaged |
|
1926 |
Memorialized |
Circa 1930 Memorialized
|
1932 |
Established |
|
1934 |
Land Transfer |
|
1934 |
Built |
|
1935 |
Built |
|
1935 |
Built |
|
1935 |
Built |
1934-1937 Moved 1936 Planned
1937
Built
Expedition led by John White arrived at Roanoke Island
Governor White returned to Roanoke; found settlement deserted
Thomas A. Dough acquired title to tract
February 10: Union forces occupied Roanoke Island
Freedmen's Colony established
Return of white landowners; closing of Freedmen's Colony
RCMA incorporated
Talcott Williams conducted first major archeological investigations
RCMA made improvements to site
November 24: Site dedicated by RCMA; RCMA placed granite mrkers at the corners of the fort and erected the Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument
January 1901 -September 1902: Reginald Fessenden conducted experiments
Granite markers placed at boundaries of property by Edward Graham Daves
RCMA sold 246 acres to William J. Griffin
State government constructed highway through site
Federal appropriation for the construction of commemorative structure at site, leading to erection of two brick pillars honoring colonists, Manteo, and Virginia Dare
Two brick pillars honoring colonists, Manteo, and Virginia Dare erected at site
RIHA established
RCMA donated property to State of North Carolina
North Carolina Emergency Relief Administration crews began building log structures at site
CCC Camp Virginia Dare became operational at Manteo
WPA Camp Wirth established at northern end of Roanoke Island
CCC workers built blockhouses, palisades, and log buildings at site
Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument moved
RIHA and North Carolina Historical Commission petitioned National Park Service to assume responsibility for site
Waterside Theatre completed using WPA labor and funds
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
|
1937 |
Memorialized |
|
1937 |
Memorialized |
|
1939 |
Planned |
|
1939 |
Land Transfer |
|
1941 |
Memorialized |
|
1941 |
Established |
1944
Damaged
|
1946 |
Demolished |
|
1947 |
Destroyed |
|
1947 |
Reconstructed |
|
1949 |
Built |
|
1950 |
Land Transfer |
|
1950 |
Reconstructed |
|
1950 |
Moved |
|
1951 |
Land Transfer |
|
1951 |
Demolished |
|
1952 |
Demolished |
|
1953 |
Established |
|
1953 |
Planted |
|
1953 |
Rehabilitated |
|
1960 |
Built |
|
1960 |
Damaged |
|
1961 |
Land Transfer |
|
1962 |
Reconstructed |
|
1966 |
Built |
First performance of The Lost Colony
August 18: President Franklin D. Roosevelt attended play
March 29: Cooperative agreement between National Park Service and RIHA
July 14: North Carolina deeded properly to the United States
April 5: Fort Raleigh declared National Historic Site
July 21 : National Park Service began administering Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Hurricane damaged Waterside Theatre and outer palisade, and uprooted numerous trees
1930s log blockhouses and small palisade demolished
July: Waterside Theatre destroyed by fire
July: Waterside Theatre reconstructed
Construction of four jetties begun
Park acquired 0.25-acre Ward tract
Earthwork fort reconstructed
Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument moved to its present location
Park acquired 1.8-acre Meakin tract
Five 1930s log buildings demolished
1930s chapel demolished
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site became part of the National Park Service Cape Hatteras Group
Garden Clubs of North Carolina began development of Elizabethan garden
Garden Clubs of North Carolina remodeled Waterside Theatre stage buildings
Nature trail (Dogwood Trail, Thomas Hariot Nature Trail) established
September 12: Hurricane Donna damaged park facilities
Land acquisition for Mission 66 expansion began
July: Rebuilt Waterside Theatre dedicated
July 13: Mission 66 properties dedicated, including visitor center. Outer Banks Group Support Office, The Lost Colony Activities Building, restroom building, generator rooms, and four staff residences, as well as roads and parking areas
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Circa 1970 Moved
1978-1980 Built
1987 Memorialized
|
1988 |
Built |
|
1990 |
Land Transfer |
|
1995 |
Built |
|
1997 |
Built |
|
1998-2001 |
Rehabilitated |
|
2007 |
Destroyed |
|
2007 |
Rebuilt |
|
2009 |
Rehabilitated |
|
2010 |
Rehabilitated |
|
2010 |
Built |
Brick pillars honoring colonists, Manteo, and Virginia Dare moved to location in town of Manteo
Revetments were constructed to protect Dough Cemetery and Waterside Theatre
August 18: Four hundredth anniversary of Virginia Dare's birth; new marker dedicated
Curatorial storage building erected
Expansion of park boundary to include 355 additional acres
Housing unit constructed
Museum resources center constructed
Waterside Theatre renovated
Lost Colony Costume Shop destroyed by fire
Lost Colony Costume Shop rebuilt
Lost Colony Administration Building rehabilitated
Park headquarters and Visitor Center rehabilitated
Lost Colony Maintenance Facility and Lost Colony Storage Facility constructed; new light towers erected
Physical History
Physical History Time Period
European Exploration Early English Colonization
Gilbert Charter
Raleigh Charter
First Settlement and Return
Second Settlement Search for the Lost Colony Roanoke Island and the Civil War Era
Civil War
Freedmen's Colony Reginald Fessenden Commemorative Efforts
Fort Raleigh State Park and the Construction of Log Structures Roanoke Island Historical Association and The Lost Colony National Park Service Administration of Fort Raleigh
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Physical History Narrative
European Exploration
The exploration and eventual European settlement of the New World was begun in the eleventh century, when Scandinavian traders navigated the North American coast. Under the direction of Leif Eriksson, the Norsemen established outposts and settlements that were later abandoned (Cameron Binkley and Steven Davis, Preserving the Mystery: An Administrative History of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, November 2003), 53). It was not until 1492 that the next European explorers again reached the New World. Christopher Columbus's trans-Atlantic expedition sparked an age of exploration spearheaded by Spain and Portugal. In 1513, Ponce De Leon reached Florida and became the first Spaniard to reach what would become the United States. During the wave of Spanish exploration, Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon founded a settlement on the coast of South Carolina in 1526. Ayllon's settlement was short lived but set the foundation for the establishment of a Spanish outpost in 1565 at St. Augustine on the east coast of Florida. During this time, Spain laid claim to numerous settlements throughout Central America. Meanwhile, the Portuguese concentrated their efforts on the colonization of South America, notably Brazil. The establishment of colonies proved economically profitable as it allowed for the exploitation of undervalued natural resources and supported the slave trade (Binkley and Davis, 5-6).
Driven by the commercial success of colonization in the New World, the English and French also chartered New World expeditions. The two countries focused their exploration on North America but their attempts at settling the New World throughout the sixteenth century were often deflected by Spanish forces, which dominated the seas. However, during the Elizabethan era, England continued to build its naval power. The unification of the British Isles in the 1530s and the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 solidified England's supremacy as a naval power. It was at this period in England's development as a world power that the Roanoke colonies were settled.
Early English Colonization
Prior to the arrival of the Europeans in the Outer Banks region of North Carolina, the land was occupied by various tribes of American Indians who had occupied the coastal lands for hundreds of years and established a way of life and system of trade between tribal groups. The large communities of American Indians had built villages and succeeded in cultivating the land, hunting the woods, fishing the coastal waters, and scavenging the landscape for fruits and nuts. The self-sufficient society of tribes existed along the shore as a relatively peaceful entity (David Beers Quinn, The Lost Colonists: Their Fortune and Probable Fate, Raleigh, North Carolina: Office of Archives and History, Historical Publications Section, 1984, 1-3).
Gilbert Charter
In 1578, Queen Elizabeth granted a charter to Humphrey Gilbert with the purpose of establishing a settlement on unclaimed land in North America. Over the course of four years, Gilbert mounted three expeditions. The first voyage, in 1579, was unsuccessful due to inclement weather conditions at sea. In 1580, a second expedition was launched to explore the coast of New England. The third voyage set sail in 1583 and landed in Newfoundland; however, rough sailing conditions devastated Gilbert's fleet of small ships. Upon returning to England, his vessel was caught in a squall and sank; Gilbert himself died at sea (Philip Tocque, Newfoundland, Toronto: John B. Magurn, 1878,4).
Raleigh Charter
A second charter was granted to Sir Walter Raleigh, Gilbert's half brother, in 1584. Within months, a small exploratory fleet led by Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe was sent out to survey the North American coast. The team arrived at the Outer Banks, a line of barrier reefs along the North Carolina coast, in July 1584. The shallow waters and rough seas around the Outer Banks made navigation of the area particularly difficult but provided protection from a potential Spanish raid. The expedition landed on Roanoke Island, a land mass in Albemarle Sound nestled between the North Carolina mainland and barrier islands. Amadas and Barlowe traded with the peaceful Roanoke Indians at a village on the north end of the island and, upon their departure, enlisted two members of the tribe, Manteo and Wanchese, to travel with them. The ships returned to England with information and resources to assist with future settlement (Binkley and Davis, 6-7).
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
First Settlement and Return
The next spring, an expedition of six or seven ships was sent to the New World to create a military outpost under the leadership of Richard Grenville. The 600 man crew included artist John White, scientist Thomas Hariot, metallurgist Joachim Gans, and Captain Ralph Lane, as well as the returning Indians, Manteo and Wanchese. After stopping in Puerto Rico, where the crew constructed an earthen fort and stock-piled salt, the ships anchored at Roanoke Island. The members of the expedition explored the area, established an earthen fort, and constructed a village.
In August 1585, Grenville left the settlement to return to England to gather supplies, leaving 107 men under the direction of Ralph Lane to manage the settlement. An outwork had been established next to the earthen fort, which served as a metallurgical assaying facility for the scientists. White, Hariot, and Gans catalogued a variety of local plants and minerals and documented the indigenous peoples. White's drawings provided a memorable record of his observations.
As time passed, the relationship between the settlers and the native peoples deteriorated. An attack by the settlers on Dasamonquepeuc, a Roanoke Indian village on the mainland, resulted in the death of the Native American leader King Wingina. The English settlers feared retaliation, and when Grenville did not return in the spring, the settlers became more concerned over their fate. When Sir Francis Drake arrived with his fleet following an attack on the Spanish settlement at Saint Augustine, the settlers accepted his offer to return to England. The outpost was abandoned by June 19, 1586.
Shortly after the abandonment of the military outpost, Grenville arrived on Roanoke Island. Upon learning the fate of the colony, Grenville left a force of fifteen men at the settlement and returned to England. It is possible that the Roanoke Indians, seeking revenge for the previous attack by settlers on their village, and drove the small force from the island. However, the fate of these men is unknown.
Second Settlement
Raleigh's second attempt at settling the New World was an expedition including women and children and was designed to establish a colony in the Chesapeake Bay area, with artist John White as governor. The voyage set sail in early 1587 and was directed to stop at the Outer Banks to check on the fifteen crew members left by Grenville. Upon reaching Roanoke Island in July, the expedition was unable to locate the men.
Despite the apparent danger caused by the strained relationship with the native peoples, the crew of the ships refused to travel farther. The colony would have to be established on Roanoke Island. A benefit to staying on the island was that the existing earthen fort and village facilities could be repaired and reused, continuing the progress made by the first Raleigh settlement. During the first summer, Manteo became the first person christened into a Protestant church in the New World. On August 18, 1587, Virginia Dare became the first English child bom in the New World.
By the end of the summer, it was decided that Governor White would return to England to obtain supplies and gamer support for the relocation or fortification of the colony. If the colonists abandoned the site, they were to leave word of their intended destination by inscribing a sign on a tree. If the relocation was a result of hostility between the colonists and Spanish or natives, the message was to be accompanied by a Maltese cross. As White departed Roanoke Island, 1 16 colonists remained.
Increasing tensions between England and Spain led to a series of sea battles between the powerful Spanish Armada and the developing English navy. In 1588, the undeclared Anglo-Spanish War came to a head when the forces confronted each other off the coast of England. The Spanish Armada was en route to invade England and to lay claim to Scotland for King Philip II. All English naval forces were ordered to defend the country, resulting in the defeat of the Armada. The victory signified the rise of England as a maritime power but delayed Governor White in his attempt to return to Roanoke colony.
It was not until 1 590, nearly three years after leaving Roanoke Island, that White was able to return to the Outer Banks. As White approached the site, a tree with the letters "CRO" inscribed on it gave the first indication that the village had been abandoned. Additionally, a palisade (a temporary wood fortification) had been erected around the village and the surrounding houses had been taken down. A palisade post had been inscribed with the letters "CROATOAN." Neither message contained a Maltese cross. To Governor White, the evidence suggested that the
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
colonists, sensing the threat of hostility, had decided to relocate to the Croatan Island near present day Cape Hatteras. Attempts were made to investigate the Croatan Island but inclement weather and an unmotivated crew prevented White from reaching the area.
Search for the Lost Colony
Further efforts were made to find the settlers of the second colony of Roanoke. In 1602, Sir Walter Raleigh sponsored an expedition led by Samuel Mace. Difficult weather prevented the crew from reaching the Outer Banks. Following the establishment of Jamestown in 1607, the new settlement was used as an embarkation port for further attempts to find the lost colony.
Various theories have been presented to explain the disappearance of the settlers. Spanish forces may have been responsible for the elimination of the settlement, as occurred with the French colony, Fort Caroline. The hostile relationship between the colonists and Native Americans may have resulted in the demise of the settlement. A third theory suggests that the colonists may have relocated inland and assimilated into a friendly tribe. The mystery of the colony remains unsolved.
Roanoke Island and the Civil War Era
During the period of English colonization, Roanoke Island was a part of the Carolina territory. The island offered a favorable location, protected from the ocean current by the barrier islands and sited along the Roanoke Inlet, the main point of entry to the Albemarle Sound. Roanoke Island was used by colonists for the grazing of livestock but was still occupied by natives until the 1770s. Following the Revolutionary War, the island was incorporated into the state of North Carolina and divided into family farmsteads.
Civil War
During the American Civil War, Roanoke Island was considered an important military post. As an inlet along the Outer Banks, the island controlled access to coastal Carolina. Confederate forces constructed numerous forts along North Carolina coast to secure their position, including two on the Outer Banks: Fort Hatteras and Fort Clark, as well as two on the northern end of Roanoke Island: Forts Blanchard and Huger, and Fort Bartow, the southernmost defense on the west side of the island. On August 26, 1861, Union forces attempted to gain control of the Fort Hatteras, the central fort along the Outer Banks. Under the command of Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, 880 Union Army and Navy soldiers attacked and subsequently took control of Fort Hatteras and neighboring Fort Clark.
A second Union assault, under the command of Gen. Ambrose Burnside, attacked Roanoke Island on February 1 0, 1862. That evening, thousands of Union troops landed at Ashby's Harbor on the west side of the island (north of present-day Wanchese) and advanced to Fort Russell, a redoubt located in the center of the island. The outnumbered Confederate forces at Fort Russell were overwhelmed by the Union troops and were forced to retreat to the north side of the island. Soon after the fall of Fort Russell, Colonel H.M. Shaw, commander of the Confederate troops on the island, ordered troops to abandon Forts Bartow, Blanchard, and Huger. Confederate soldiers retreated to Camp Raleigh at the north end of Roanoke Island. Unable to evacuate his troops from the island, Colonel Shaw was forced to surrender. Union soldiers captured nearly three thousand Confederate troops and remained on the island to occupy the forts and secure their position along the coast.
Freedmen's Colony
Following the occupation of Roanoke Island by Union forces, slaves from the surrounding areas sought refuge on the island. The first slaves to arrive were hired by Union soldiers to serve as servers, cooks, and porters. Standard wages were set at ten dollars a month plus clothes and rations for men. Women and children, who were employed to wash, iron, and cook, were paid four dollars a month plus amenities. Vincent Colyer was appointed regional Superintendent of the Poor by General Burnside to oversee the assimilation of the slaves. Colyer instituted a construction campaign that resulted in the completion of forts and docks along the Outer Banks.
Under the direction of Maj. Gen. John G. Foster, Reverend James established a colony for former slaves on the north end of Roanoke Island. Funded primarily by the Freedmen's Associations in Boston and New York, a small community was developed with a church, schools, hospital, stores, and a gristmill. The colony reached a population of 3,500 by June 1865 and was able to provide employment opportunities for freed slaves. Despite the early and
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rapid growth, the colony was not successful in establishing a government or in becoming economically self- sufficient. At the conclusion of the Civil War, Union forces left Roanoke Island, government rations ceased, and prewar residents returned to claim their land. The freed slaves were encouraged to relocate to the North Carolina mainland.
Reginald Fessenden
Reginald Fessenden was a Canadian-born scientist who worked under Thomas Edison testing new insulating materials for cables. Fessenden developed an interest in high frequency alternating current, and his experience led to his employment by the Weather Bureau to develop a method for wireless communication. Fessenden spent twenty months, between January 1901 and September 1902, on Roanoke Island performing research and conducting experiments. Fessenden's main experimental station was established on a concrete slab on the north end of Roanoke Island; due to shoreline erosion, this site is now 300 yards offshore. Additional stations were set up at Hatteras Island and Cape Henry, Virginia.
Fessenden's research on Roanoke Island led to the discovery and application of a commercially adaptable radio communications technique. An antenna was used to detect and receive voice and music waves, setting the groundwork for radio and television tuning. The significant discovery was directly based on Fessenden's experiments for the Weather Bureau on Roanoke Island. Although Fessenden terminated his employment with the Bureau in the fall of 1902, his experience with the Weather Bureau influenced his career and led to his successful first trans-Atlantic radiotelephone transmission (1906), development of SONAR, aircraft radio altimeter, and the turbo-electric drive.
Commemorative Efforts
Throughout its history, Roanoke Island has been acknowledged as the location of the lost colony. Public interest remained high as evidenced by President James Monroe's visit to the historic site in 1819. A Harper's Magazine article, published in 1860, rekindled the nation's interest in Fort Raleigh. Efforts were made to develop a memorial for the site. In 1894, a group of native North Carolinians living in Baltimore, Maryland, formed the RCMA. Under the leadership of Edward Graham Daves, the group sold shares in their corporation to raise money for commemorative efforts on the site. Within a month, the RCMA had acquired more than 260 acres of land, including the historic fort location from the Dough family, which had owned the fort site since 1820. In 1895, an archeological investigation conducted by Talcott Williams of the University of Pennsylvania provided evidence that the site was indeed related to the 1580s settlement. In 1896, the RCMA placed granite markers at the corners of the earthwork fort and erected the granite Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument commemorating the birth of Virginia Dare and the christening of Manteo. In addition, a road to the fort site was constructed, and the site was enclosed with a split rail fence. The site was dedicated on November 24, 1896 (Figure 5).
In 1910, the RCMA sold all but the 16.45 acre tract that contained Fort Raleigh in an effort to pay off debts incurred with the purchase of the site. In 1924, a state highway (former State Highway 345) was constructed through the historic site. After numerous failed attempts to involve the federal government in commemoration of the site, a bill that included a federal appropriation for the construction of a commemorative structure at the fort was signed into law in 1926. This funding resulted in erection of two brick pillars with tablets honoring the colonists, Manteo, and Virginia Dare on either side of the entrance to the property (Figure 6).
Fort Raleigh State Park, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Construction of Log Structures
With the implementation of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs in 1933, the National Park Service was instructed to expand its interpretation of natural areas to include a recreational component. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a New Deal work program, was responsible for much of the work relating to the creation of these new recreation areas. Within a few years, the National Park Service oversaw nearly six hundred CCC camps working on projects at both state and national parks. The new focus on recreational areas brought about ideas for new types of national parks, including national seashores.
After several years of struggling to commemorate the site further, the RCMA donated the property to the State of North Carolina in 1934. With control of the site under the direction of the North Carolina Historical Commission,
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development escalated rapidly. A 1933 proposal that sought to restore natural vegetation, control erosion, and create a national park quickly gained support and became a federal relief project, with funds and labor provided by the CCC, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the Civil Works Administration, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which replaced the FERA in 1935. Plans were soon made to reconstruct the 1587 settlement. This effort resulted in the construction of several log structures that were thought by their designers to be similar to what existed on the site when it was first settled, despite having little evidence as to what actually was constructed on the site at the time of initial settlement. Work on the Fort Raleigh "reconstruction" was begun in 1934 by crews of the Transient Bureau of the North Carolina Emergency Relief Administration. A CCC camp, Camp Virginia Dare, was established at Manteo and became operational in early 1935, after which CCC laborers participated in construction of the log structures at the park. In the same year, Camp Wirth was established by the WPA on the northern portion of Roanoke Island (Figures 7 through 9). (Information provided by Jim Senter, historian, Durham, North Carolina, in telephone conversation and e-mail correspondence with Deborah Slaton of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., April, 2010.)
Among the structures built by CCC workers were two blockhouses at the entrance to the property (Figure 10) as well as a palisade that surrounded the site. Inside the palisade was a group of seven log buildings including a chapel, a museum, and a house surrounded by another palisade. These structures did not accurately recreate the original settlement. Activity at the fort increased significantly, however, as 30,000 people visited the site in 1935 (Cameron Binkley and Steven Davis, Preserving the Mystery: An Administrative History of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, November 2003), 25).
Roanoke Island Historical Association and The Lost Colony
As RCMA became less active, the need for a new advocacy group was recognized. As a result, the RIHA was established in 1932. One of the first major tasks of the RIHA was to plan a celebration to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the founding of the lost colony. A play, written by Paul Green and entitled The Lost Colony, was to be performed as part of the observance. A new outdoor theater was constructed on the Fort Raleigh site utilizing WPA labor and funds. The play was performed in front of 50,000 people, including President Franklin Roosevelt, during the summer of 1937. The Lost Colony has been performed each summer since, with the exception of the summers between 1941 and 1945.
National Park Service Administration of Fort Raleigh
Establishment of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
In 1936 the North Carolina Historical Commission and the RIHA began discussing the prospect of turning over the Fort Raleigh site to the National Park Service. The National Park Service representatives were skeptical about taking control of the park, as they were unsure if the site was actually the location of the lost colony and were also concerned about the inaccurate reconstructions built during the early 1930s. After years of negotiations, the National Park Service took over the property and created the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site in 1941 . As part of the agreement, the RIHA was allowed to continue to stage The Last Colony. Upon acquiring the site, National Park Service officials sought to enlarge the park and demolish the inaccurate reconstructions while building new facilities. These alterations could not be made immediately, however, due to a lack of funding. In 1944, the park was damaged by a hurricane. Sections of the palisade and Waterside Theatre were damaged and several trees were uprooted. (Figures 14 and 15 are undated views of the visitor center and the Waterside Theatre.)
Modifications and Additions - 1946-1956
Unable to construct new buildings due to a lack of funds, the National Park Service was forced to retain the historically inaccurate log structures constructed in the 1930s longer than anticipated. By 1946, the palisade and log blockhouse at the fort site were demolished. In 1951, five more log structures were demolished, and in 1952 the chapel building was taken down after being closed to the public for two years due to its deteriorating condition.
The lack of funding also prevented Fort Raleigh from significantly expanding its boundaries. Only two small parcels of land were purchased in the first several years of National Park Service management of the site. In 1950, the park acquired 0.25-acre piece of land between the park and State Highway 345 from the estate of James M. Ward. A year later, the park acquired a 1.8-acre tract situated between State Highway 345 and the Roanoke Sound from Alfred P. Meakin.
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In July 1947, a fire destroyed the Waterside Theatre. Later that month the theater was reconstructed. (Following damage by Hurricane Donna in 1960, the theater was again rebuilt in 1962.)
In 1950, the earthwork fort was reconstructed based on archeological studies performed by Jean C. Harrington in 1947 and 1948. Harrington's original discoveries were thought to be part of Lane's settlement, but later studies suggested that the settlement was actually located in an area that is now offshore (Figures 1 1 through 13).
In 1953, the Garden Clubs of North Carolina began to develop a sixteenth-century style garden on land owned by the RIHA. A wild garden was also developed to symbolize the landscape found by the settlers. The gardens were formally dedicated in 1955. At the same time, the Garden Clubs remodeled the Waterside Theatre stage buildings.
In 1953, the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site became part of the National Park Service Cape Hatteras Group.
In addition to ongoing exploration of archeological resources, the NPS began a more systematic program of interpretation at the site during the 1950s and 1960s. This included the removal of the old museum, the erection of new signs and markers, and the construction of new pathways, parking lots, and visitor facilities.
Mission 66 Era, 1956-1966
In the years after World War II, visitation at the national parks grew significantly. The Mission 66 program was a National Park Service initiative that endeavored to improve conditions at existing national parks and meet the changing needs and demands of the rapidly growing visitor population. The Mission 66 program, derived in response to postwar social and economic conditions, acknowledged the need to actively address the rapidly increasing use of the parks by providing modern facilities and services. The plan encouraged development at designated park locations while maintaining the integrity of the surrounding natural landscape; environmentalists objected to the construction of new facilities as inappropriate to the goal of protecting the natural resource.
By 1949, conditions at national parks were generally in a state of deterioration. Improvements had not been made to public facilities since the New Deal era programs of the 1930s. The desperate need for building maintenance and funding was amplified by the rapid increase in visitors to national parks following World War II. Between 1931 and 1948, total visits to the national park system increased from 3,500,000 to 30,000,000, but park facilities remained essentially as they were before the war. The lack of suitable public facilities jeopardized the integrity and condition of the existing natural resources. The NPS needed to undertake a major infrastructure improvement plan in order to revitalize its resources and reestablish its image as a steward of the natural environment.
When Conrad Wirth became director of the NPS in 1951, issues of facilities maintenance and capital improvements remained unsolved. There were limited federal funds available and no direction on how to undertake a major infrastructure improvement plan. In February 1955, Wirth conceived a comprehensive conservation program to revitalize the national park system. Wirth's Mission 66 plan recognized the constraints of federal funding and aimed to resolve them while addressing the needs of the national park facilities. As noted by Allaback:
. . . Wirth envisioned the Park Service's dilemma through the eyes of a congressman. Rather than submit a yearly budget, as in the past, he would ask for an entire decade of funding, thereby ensuring money for building projects that might last many years. Congressmen who wanted real improvements for the park in their districts would support increased appropriations for the entire construction period. Armed with a secure budget, the program would generate public support through its missionary status and implied celebration of the Park Service's golden anniversary in 1966. Mission 66 would allow the Park Service to repair and build roads, bridges and trails, hire additional employees, construct new facilities ranging from campsites to administration buildings, improve employee housing, and obtain land for future parks. This effort would require more than 670 million dollars over the next decade. From its birth. Mission 66 was touted as a program to elevate the parks to modern standards of comfort and efficiency, as well as an attempt to conserve natural resources (Allaback, Introduction).
During the early phases of Mission 66 planning, park superintendents were consulted, estimates were made about the future growth of the park system, and visitor surveys were conducted. Eight parks were designated as pilot studies for determining the scope and parameters of the Mission 66 program: Chaco Canyon National Monument; Shiloh National Military Park; Adams Mansion National Historical Site; and Mount Rainier, Fort Laramie, Mesa Verde, Yellowstone, and Everglades National Parks. (Roy E. Appleman, A History of the National Park Service
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Mission 66 Program (Washington, D.C.: Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1958), 2-32). The pilot studies represented a cross-section of different regions and various park types. Based on the study, it was determined that the program should focus on the visitor experience by improving and standardizing facilities; providing interpretive resources such as visitor centers, additional staff, trails, and maps; and creating guest and employee lodging facilities. The visitor center was essentially a new building type developed by the Park Service for the Mission 66 program.
Armed with these pilot studies, Wirth approach President Eisenhower in January 1 956 with the Mission 66 plan. Eisenhower, aware of the declining physical condition of the national parks, gave immediate approval and by February, the plan was introduced to the public (Allaback, Introduction).
The Mission 66 program aimed to preserve the natural environment of national parks by creating a complex of adequate visitor facilities and locating them in less environmentally sensitive areas within the park. Early park planning involved several decentralized buildings with various functions spread out in selected areas of the park. During the early 1950s, centralized service facilities began to be developed by NPS architects and planners to address increased attendance at national parks. It was believed that by concentrating public activities, the NPS could better preserve the parks by further preventing misuse by visitors. These new facilities were initially refered to as "administration-museum buildings," "public service buildings," and "public use buildings." By 1956, it was decided that these new centralized buildings would be referred to "visitor centers."
The visitor center would combine administrative and educational facilities and thus create a more efficient park experience for visitors. Interpretation would be improved with the addition of new audio-visual based exhibits that would further stimulate public interest. In addition, the centralized visitor center would allow the visitor to be better oriented to the site. Perhaps most importantly, the visitor center would provide all primary visitor services at a readily accessible location, and thus limit visitor impact on the natural resources of the park.
American cities in the 1950s were being transformed as historic buildings were replaced with "more efficient" modern buildings. The advent of Mission 66 brought modern architecture to the national parks. The Mission 66 program marked a change in philosophy with regard to the design of buildings in the national parks. The new visitor centers being constructed in national parks across the country would not be constructed in the rustic style seen in the national park buildings built throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The Mission 66 visitor centers would be efficient, contemporary buildings that could serve a large number of people as quickly as possible. By utilizing modern materials, the NPS was also able to construct more buildings at more parks, as materials such as steel, concrete, and glass were quite economical in the postwar years. The complex program required by the visitor centers could be readily accommodated in buildings to be designed in a more modern style. Influential in the design of several visitor centers throughout the Mission 66 program was Park Service architect Cecil Doty. Trained in the rustic style seen in NPS of the 1930s, Doty utilized features seen in the rustic style, such as interior courtyards and plain facades, in the modern visitor centers he designed.
In the later years of Mission 66, Park Service architects began to develop plans for decentralized visitor centers to address visitor circulation issues, although centralized visitor centers like those seen in the early days of the program continued to be constructed. The architects began to design visitor centers that consisted of a series of buildings grouped around an outdoor courtyard or terrace. (An example of this design can be seen at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, where three separate buildings housing the visitor center, administration facilities, and restrooms were constructed around an outdoor terrace complete with benches and large planters. Despite having its functions spread out between three separate structures, the group of buildings and plaza at Fort Raleigh still comprise a centralized point that can effectively serve a large number of people in an efficient manner.)
In 1961, the park began to acquire land for the Mission 66 expansion and in total was able to obtain almost 125 additional acres. In 1964 construction began on a visitor center, maintenance building, four staff residences, a building to be used by the RIHA, and a structure to serve as headquarters for the Cape Hatteras Group. The new structures were formally dedicated on July 13, 1966.
The new visitor center allowed the park to expand its exhibits, including an audiovisual program, and to provide a sales area operated by the RIHA (until 2000). Exhibits described the expeditions to the New World, the Roanoke Island voyages, the life of the colonists, the fort and its significance, and later English colonization of America. The
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visitor center also included the Elizabethan Room, a room with oak paneling removed from an English Elizabethan house, intended to depict life in sixteenth-century England.
Modifications and Additions, 1966s-Present
While no major construction projects have been undertaken at Fort Raleigh since the construction of the Mission 66 structures in the mid-1960s, several improvements have been made. Between 1978 and 1980 revetments were positioned along the sound adjacent to the Dough Cemetery and the Waterside Theatre. In 1988, a new curatorial building was constructed. In the same year disabled access ramps were added to the headquarters building and visitor center. The park was expanded in 1990 to include 355 additional acres. In 1995 a new residence was constructed to house employees of the Cape Hatteras Group. Two years later in 1997, a museum resources center was built. The Waterside Theatre was renovated between 1998 and 2001 . Most recently rehabilitation work is being undertaken at the Outer Banks Group Support Office and Visitor Center in 2010. This work includes upgrades to the electrical and plumbing systems; removal of deteriorated interior plaster and replacement with gypsum wallboard; and localized replacement of deteriorated wood siding on the building exteriors. In addition, two new buildings were constructed west of the Waterside Theatre pavilion in 2010: the Lost Colony Maintenance Facility and the Lost Colony Storage Facility. Also in 2010, the light towers were replaced.
Archeological studies continued at the site, including site work by the National Park Service Southeast Archeological Center (SEAC) in 1981-1985 and ongoing; Ivor Noel Hume with the Virgina Company Foundation in 1991-1993; and Nicholas M. Luccketti and the Virginia Company Foundation in 1994-1995. These studies have supported the hypothesis that the original settlement site is now offshore beneath the sound.
The studies performed by Hume in the early 1 990s were particularly interesting in that the artifacts found, including remnants of burned charcal and crucibles, suggested that the site of the earthwork had been a type of research laboratory of the 1585-1586 period. Hume concluded that the laboratory predated the earthwork, and was probably related to naturalist Thomas Hariot and scientist Joachim Ganz, who had been part of the first expedition.
FIGURE 4. Map of northern Roanoke Island circa 1840s. Source: NPS Southeast Archeological Center, 2010.
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FIGURE 5. Survey map prepared for RCMA in November 1896. The granite marker placed by Graham Daves in 1902, identified as "Rock," is located at the east boundary of the Fort Tract. Source: NPS Southeast Archeological Center.
FIGURE 6. One of the commemorative piers constructed circa 1930 and relocated to Manteo circa 1970. Source: WJE, 2009.
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FIGURE 7. Camp Wirth, looking west-southwest. Source: National Archives.
FIGURE 8. Camp Wirth, looking northeast. Source: National Archives.
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FIGURE 9. Camp Wirth. Source: National Archives.
FIGURE 10. Entrance to Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, HABS photograph, HABS NC 389, undated.
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FIGURE 11. Excerpt of 1947 archeological base map of the Fort Raleigh historic site, prepared by Jean "Pinky" Harrington. The granite maker placed by Graham Daves in 1902 is visible near the east property line, adjacent to the east side of the earthwork fortification. Source: NPS Southeast Archeological Center.
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FIGURE 12. Archeological excavation at earthwork fort, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, HABS photograph, HABSNC389, 1950.
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FIGURE 13. Reconstructed earthwork fort, HABS photograph, HABS NC 389, undated.
FIGURE 14. The visitor center, HABS photograph, HABS NC 389, undated.
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FIGURE 15. The Waterside Theatre, HABS photograph, HABS NC 389, undated.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Analysis and Evaluation of Integrity
Inventory Unit
Analysis and Evaluation Summary
The Fort Raleigh National Historic Site landscape is located on the northern end of Roanoke Island, which is part of Dare County, North Carolina. Roanoke Island is located between the mainland of North Carolina and the barrier islands known as the North Carolina Outer Banks. The National Historic Site is approximately three miles north of the town of Manteo and eight and a half miles northwest of the town of Wanchese. Roanoke Sound forms the northern boundary of the historic site and is visible from several areas of the site.
The National Historic Site is accessible from U.S. Highway 264, which intersects the property at the south end. An access road off U.S. Highway 264 leads to the administrative offices, visitor center, and parking lot. A paved pathway steers visitors to the reconstructed fort, the Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument, and the Waterside Theatre. Additional features include a park roadway leading to the maintenance facilities, park quarters, and the Dough Cemetery — a graveyard for members of the Dough family who once owned property now included within the National Historic Site.
Features of the cultural landscape at the National Historic Site are part of the two periods of significance listed in the National Register nomination. The first period, circa 1584-1590, represents the attempts by the English, under the charter of Sir Walter Raleigh, to establish a permanent colony in the New World. The dates 1584, 1585-1586, 1587, and 1590 were identified as significant dates in the colonization of Roanoke Island. The second period of significance is listed as circa 1860-1953. During this time period, focus was brought to the preservation and commemoration of the site. The dates 1896, 1930s, and 1947-1953 were identified as specific dates of importance and correlate with the development of significant man-made site features that enhanced the interpretive value of the landscape.
Though there is little physical evidence above ground of the settlements in 1584, 1585-1586, 1587, and 1590, (the first period of significance), there potentially remain archeological resources dating to this period of attempts at permanent settlements. The work of Ivor Hume and Nick Luccketti at the site from 1991 1995 supported the hypothesis that the original settlement site is now offshore beneath the sound. However, due to the paucity of known remains, the site has been considered to have little integrity from this period of significance.
The second period of significance, listed as 1860-1953, during which preservation and commemoration activities were conducted at the site. The dates 1896, 1930s, and 1947-1953, identified as specific dates of importance, correlate with the development of significant man-made site features that enhanced the interpretive value of the landscape. Those features of the landscape extant today include the Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument, the Waterside Theatre, interpretation of the "Cittie of Ralegh," interpretation of the "science center," the Thomas Hariot Nature Trail, the Elizabethan Gardens, the memorials of Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech in the park and his attendance at the twenty-third performance of The Lost Colony production, restoration of natural vegetation, erosion control at Dough Cemetery and Waterside Theatre, and the earthwork fort reconstruction based on archeological studies performed by Jean D. Harrington. The site has moderate integrity overall in relation to this period of significance, with some changes implemented over time. The evaluation of integrity is examined here in relation to the seven aspects of integrity as defined by the National Register: location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
Location: Most of the primary features that serve to define the site are in the approximate location where they existed during the 1860-1953 period. The shoreline of Roanoke and Albemarle sounds, which forms the boundary of the National Historic Site on its north and west edges persists in approximately the same location, although its integrity is threatened by continual erosion. In addition, most roadways that led into and through the site are extant, at least in location, although some are only in trace condition. Within the historic core of the site, the relative locations of the earthwork fort, the Waterside Theatre, the Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument, the Thomas Hariot Nature Trail, and the FDR monuments maintain their integrity of location. In addition, the Dough Cemetery
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and Camp Wirth, also maintain their original relative locations. However, vegetative patterns have altered throughout this period, and no historic cultural vegetation has been identified.
Design: The original spatial organization of the site prior to the 1960s is difficult to discern today due to the Mission 66-era changes to the National Historic Site, including the relocation or abandonment of roadways and construction of new buildings, roads, and parking lots. However, the historic core of the site maintains many aspects of the original design including the locations of the earthwork fort, the Waterside Theatre, and the Thomas Hariot Nature Trail. The site is therefore considered to have moderate integrity of design.
Setting: The landscape within the boundaries of the National Historic Site possesses a moderate to high level of integrity in relation to its 1860-1953 period of significance. The central area of the National Historic Site has only moderate integrity due to the location and configuration of the buildings, roads, and parking areas constructed in the 1960s, which disrupted historic spatial patterns established by historic roads. However, high integrity of setting is maintained in the historic core of the National Historic Site, where the Waterside Theatre and the Thomas Hariot Nature Trail still retain their visual relationships to Roanoke Sound.
Materials: The site has only moderate integrity of materials because, with the exception of the earthwork fort, the 1902 granite marker, the Raleigh Colony /Virginia Dare Monument, and the FDR monuments, all other features have been replaced or heavily altered since the period of significance. Of particular note is the Waterside Theatre, which, although it retains its general configuration, it has been reconstructed or remodeled several times since it was originally built. In addition, most pathways that were established within the historic core, with the exception of the Hariot Trail, have been paved in asphalt since the period of significance.
Workmanship: As with materials, portions of the site display only a moderate level of integrity of workmanship due to the many reconstructions and renovations of the Waterside Theatre. However, the earthwork fort and the monuments retain a high level of integrity of workmanship due to the persistence of their forms as present at their installation.
Feeling: The landscape of the National Historic Site has a moderate to high level of integrity related to feeling, as related to the variety of experiences available. The National Historic Site has only moderate integrity within the area developed in the 1960s for visitor services. This is due to the relocation, addition, or abandonment of roadways and the placement of visitor services in the area where the original entrance was located. However, the Waterside Theatre and the Thomas Hariot Nature Trail maintain a high level of integrity related to feeling, in part through their strong visual relationships to views of Roanoke Sound.
Association: Integrity of association with the commemorative period is moderate to high. The area developed in the 1960s for visitor services has only moderate integrity due to the abandonment and removal of the original approach roadway and relocation of the original entrance gate to the village of Manteo.
In general, the site retains good integrity for the third period of significance, the Mission 66 development of 1963- 1966. The buildings and site features (primarily the plaza and walk complex) remain in their original locations, reflect their original design, retain their original setting, retain their original materials, reflect their original workmanship, and convey the feeling and association of the Mission 66 period of significance.
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Landscape Characteristics and Landscape Features
Archeological Sites
Earliest archeological investigations at Fort Raleigh were conducted in 1895 by Talcott Williams of the University of Pennsylvania. Williams excavated a test trench to confirm European occupation of the site at the time the fort was constructed and subsequently recommended that a fence be erected to protect the site. Formal archeological investigations were not initiated again until 1947-1950 and 1953, when the National Park Service retained Jean C. Harrington to conduct further excavations. Harrington, who had overseen the Jamestown, Virginia, excavations and planned an archeological survey program for Fort Raleigh, excavated the fort site during 1947 and discovered most of the outline of a fortification and information on its construction as an earthwork. He subsequently began excavating exploratory trenches outward from the earthwork to locate evidence of the settlement. The trenches were located in the park and also on adjacent private property that is now the Elizabethan Gardens. No evidence of a sixteenth-century settlement was found. While the Civilian Conservation Corps labor assisted Harrington in his excavation work at Jamestown, CCC workers apparently did not assist him at Fort Raleigh.
In 1963, Harrington returned to Fort Raleigh and, with a team of National Park Service archeologists, surveyed the sites of proposed Mission 66 construction for evidence of sixteenth-century resources; however, no significant findings were uncovered. In 1965, Harrington conducted an excavation between the reconstructed fort and the site of the planned Mission 66 visitor center to investigate a sunken area with stains in the soils indicating a structure. The site revealed signs of a seven by eight foot long structure with horizontal logs extending beyond the structure on two sides. Harrington also found brick and tile fragments that he believed dated from the sixteenth century. He called the structure an "outwork" and hypothesized that it was part of a palisade erected by the second colony at the settlement site (Monthly Reports, August-September 1963, March 1965).
Between 1981 and 1985, National Park Service Southeast Archeological Center (SEAC) staff conducted further investigations of the outwork feature. The SEAC archeologists were looking for indications of remains of a second bastion from a fortification, but instead found the remains of a 1921 dirt road and closed out the season without being able to confirm the theory of a large fortification at the site. Finding the fortification would have helped the National Park Service determine where the original settlement might have been located.
The next phase of archeological work was initiated by Ivor Hume with the Virginia Company Foundation. His project involved three periods of excavations at Fort Raleigh from 1991-1993. The artifacts Hume recovered suggested that the site of the earthwork was a metallurgist's assaying facility from the 1585 1586 period, probably related to the work on site of naturalist Thomas Hariot and scientist Joachim Ganz. Hume concluded that the site of the reconstructed fort could not have been Lane's earthwork of 1585 but speculated that the earthwork could have been constructed to guard the entrance to the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds during the French and Indian War. It was also possible that the earthwork was constructed by either the group of fifteen men left behind by Grenville in 1585, or by the second colony as a small fortification away from the settlement and the main fort. Hume concluded that the sixteenth-century settlement site was probably lost to the waters of Roanoke Sound (Laura P. McCarty, "New Findings at the Lost Colony," National Parks 67, no. 7-8 (July/August 1993), 36-40, in McCarty, Laura P. file, FORA archive).
Hume's work was followed by archeological investigations by the Virginia Company Foundation in 1994 and 1995. Once again, no artifacts were uncovered to indicate the presence of a settlement. There was speculation after this excavation that the earthwork had been built to protect the metallurgical assaying facility discovered by Hume. The study concluded indicated that the reconstructed fort interpreted as Lane's main fort was a different sixteenth- century fortification or possibly an eighteenth-century earthwork (Cameron Binkley and Steven Davis, Preserving the Mystery: An Administrative History of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (November 2003), 54-60).
In 2002 SEAC produced a study entitled: Archeological Overview and Assessment: Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, which outlined recommendations for future archeological work at Fort Raleigh based on National Park Service policies and guidelines. This study recommended a general systematic subsurface survey in areas not previously investigated; continuation of excavations west of the fort to further investigate the presumed colonial features of the
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
settlement; and an additional investigation of the archeological remains of the WPA camp known to be located at the northern end of Roanoke Island.
Appendix A of the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Historic Resource Study by Christine Trebellas and William Chapman (Atlanta, Georgia: Southeast Regional Office, November 1999) identifies contributing and non- contributing resources of the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. Based on the Historic Resource Study, contributing archeological resources include the "science center" (circa 1585-1586), contributing as an archaeological site of national significance. Potentially eligible archeological resources include Camp Wirth (circa 1930s). Potentially eligible archeological (not located) resources include the "Cittie of Ralegh" settlement site of the Roanoke colonists (circa 1585-1590); Roanoac, the Native American settlement site; Ralph Lane's New Fort in Virginia, a fortification of the Roanoke colonists (circa 1585-1590); archeological resources associated with the Civil War, including Fort Huger (circa 1861-1862), Fort Blanchard (circa 1861-1862), Fort Bartow (circa 1861-1862), Camp Raleigh (circa 1861-1862), Camp Foster/Camp Reno (circa 1862-1865), and the Freedmen's Colony (circa 1862-1866); the Dough Family House and Farm (circa 1850-1960); and Fessenden's Transmitting and Receiving Equipment/Station (circa 1901-1902).
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Natural Systems and Features
The most important natural feature of the cultural landscape of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is the waterline along Roanoke Sound, Albemarle Sound, and Croatan Sound. Shoreline erosion along these banks has been an ongoing problem and has required protection measures to prevent further damage (Figures 16 and 17). The erosion protection efforts can be seen from the Dough Cemetery on the north end of the historic site and the Waterside Theatre.
The beach at the north end of Roanoke Island is generally twenty feet wide and terminates at the foot of an eroding sand dune bluff, which varies in height from two to twenty feet (National Park Service 1978:15 - complete citation to be added). To aid in the accretion of sand, a groin field was constructed along the northeastern shoreline behind the Elizabethan Gardens in 1950. Tidal movements and storm destruction have been a part of the history of the cultural landscape, but have contributed to the loss of some of the historic site.
The landscape is heavily wooded and dominated by live oak (Quercns virginiand), laurel oak (Q. laurifolia), blackjack oak (Q. marilandica), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), American holly (Ilex opaca), yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria), loblolly pine (Pinus tceda), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera), and redbay (Persea borbonia). These species are the same as those identified in the historic record, for examples, as described by (Hariot 195 1 - complete citation to be added, and Horace James in Annual Report for the Superintendent of Negro Affairs in North Carolina, 1864 (Boston, Massachusetts: W. F. Brown & Co., Printers, 1865). Although the island was completely deforested during the Civil War, it appears that the native species reestablished themselves afterward.
Ground water is the main source of potable water on Roanoke Island. Thousands of feet of marine sediment underlie Dare County, but only the upper sandy aquifer contains fresh water. On Roanoke Island salt water usually occurs at a depth of 300 feet. (Lou Groh, Jack Walker, and Guy Prentice, with contributions by Julie Williams, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Archeological Overview and Assessment, SEAC Ace. No. 1333 (Tallahassee, Florida: National Park Service Southeast Archeological Center, 2002), 16.)
There are vegetation-stabilized sand dunes along the northeastern shore and extensive areas of tidal marsh and swamp on the east, south, and west shores of the Island. Two creeks drain the elevated portions of the island and numerous smaller creeks empty into the marshes.
FIGURE 16.
2009.
These wood groins have been constructed along the shoreline to control erosion. Source: JMA, Inc.,
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 17. Stone rip rap is also used along some areas of the shoreline to control erosion. Source: JMA, Inc. 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Spatial Organization
The spatial organization of the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is characterized first by the roadway system, then by clusters of use, and finally by vegetative patterns consisting primarily of the secondary growth forest that dominates most of the site. The combination of these characteristics suggests an overall organization of the site into three major parts: the historic core, the visitor center cluster, and the mixed woods.
Vehicular entrance to the site is primarily available off of U.S. Highway 264, which bisects the site, separating the more recently-acquired tracts on the southern edge from the main body of the National Historic Site (refer to Figures 1 and 2). Visitors enter the site via the Fort Raleigh Road, which extends north from U.S. Highway 264 and terminates in a circular drive that provides access to parking for both National Park Service and Waterside Theatre functions. Pear Pad Road extends west from Fort Raleigh Road and provides access to the site's maintenance facilities, staff housing, the Dough Cemetery, and the site of Camp Wirth. From Pear Pad Road a secondary drive provides access to the parking lot for the Elizabethan Gardens and the Lost Colony Office.
The historic core of the National Historic Site incorporates all of the features located within the original boundaries of the site when it was first established in 1942 (Figure 18). The cluster of features within the historic core includes the earthwork fort, the Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument, the Waterside Theatre and supporting structures, and the Thomas Hariot Nature Trail (formerly known as the Dogwood Trail). With the exception of clearings maintained around the earthwork fort and the Waterside Theatre, this area is heavily wooded and the main interpretive spaces are edged by growths of trees, shrubs, and vines. This shrubby growth forms an edge along the south side of the historic core that follows the trace of the original North Carolina Route 345, the original road from Manteo to the National Historic Site. The historic core forms the center of interpretation of the National Historic Site.
Surrounding the historic core on its south and east sides is the visitor services cluster, located within the area of the park that was acquired by the National Park Service in the 1960s (Figure 19). This cluster contains the National Park Service visitor center; the Outer Banks Group Support Office, which contains staff offices for Fort Raleigh, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and the Wright Brothers National Memorial; the Lost Colony Building, which houses the administrative functions of the theatrical production; the Prince House and the Beehive, which house theater staff; and the First Light of Freedom Monument. This area is served by four separate parking areas: one for the theater, another edging the circle drive and providing parking for the visitor center, a third for Outer Banks staff, and the last for the Elizabethan Gardens. The Grape Arbor, the last remaining vestige of the Dough Homestead that preceded the park, is located within one of the theater parking lot islands. In general, the character of this area is fairly open, with a few tall trees providing shade.
A forest of secondary growth mixed woods covers the rest of the site. Through this forested area run three vehicular roads: Pear Pad Road; the packed dirt road that leads to the Water Plant; and Pearce Road.(State Road 1161), which provides access from U.S. Highway 264, through the National Historic Site, to the recently constructed waterfront community of Heritage Point. With the exception of these roadways and the Freedom Trail, a woodland path that leads through the site to the west shore, the forested area is relatively undifferentiated. The exceptions are four smaller use clusters located within this area, as described below.
At the far western end of Pear Pad Road are two archeological sites: one is the Dough Family Cemetery and the other is the site of Camp Wirth, the WPA encampment from the 1930s. The Dough Family Cemetery is about one- eighth acre and contains eight known graves dating from 1866 to 1906 (Figure 20). It is maintained by National Historic Site staff as a grassy lawn with grave markers and a high canopy of pines revealing views to the Albemarle Sound. The WPA encampment site is overgrown with trees and shrubs; few related cultural resources, with the exception of a drainage pipe, have been identified.
To the east of these sites is the small cluster of National Park Service staff housing, constructed circa 1965 (National Historic Site RAL 3022-B, Sheet 6) (Figure 21 and refer to Buildings and Structures). East of the residential area is the maintenance yard, which includes buildings for maintenance functions, the National Historic Site archives, and one residential building (Figure 22). A third maintenance-related site, the Water Plant, is located off a dirt road that extends south from Pear Pad Road.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 18. General character of the historic core, including earthwork fort to the left, pedestrian paths, interpretive and directional signage, and the heavy tree cover throughout the area. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 19. General more open character of the visitor services area with paving, lawns, and high tree canopies. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 20. The Dough Cemetery is maintained by the National Park Service as open lawn and a high tree canopy with views to Albemarle Sound. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
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FIGURE 21. Cluster of staff housing along Pear Pad Road. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 22. Maintenance yard with site archives to the left. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
Feature: Roadway Organization
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Historic Core
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Visitor Services Cluster
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Dough Family Cemetery
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Feature: Camp Wirth (WPA Encampment Site)
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: NPS Staff Housing
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Maintenance Yard
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Water Plant
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Land Use
In the seventeenth century, following the period of the first attempted settlements on Roanoke Island, the population began to grow and settlers to use the land primarily to raise animals and plant crops. Many of these settlers were also pilots and boatmen who guided vessels through the inlets and sounds. Some absentee landowners hired settler families to tend their livestock, including cattle, on the island. When Union forces took Roanoke Island during the Civil War, they set up the Freedmen's Colony and established a town using a grid system that divided the northern end of the island into large quadrangles, each containing twelve one-acre plots for freedmen and their families to improve with small houses and gardens. However, agricultural land use was eventually replaced by fishing, shoe making, barrel-making, and sawmills.
Today, the cultural landscape of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is used primarily for commemoration, interpretation, and recreation. Commemoration is represented by the various monuments and markers throughout the park that recognize certain historic events or features. Commemoration is also represented by the Waterside Theatre, where the outdoor drama, The Lost Colony, has been presented almost every summer since 1937. Interpretation is supported by the system of interpretive signage that is located throughout the park. Both commemoration and interpretation are supported by the visitor center. Recreation is represented by the numerous trails in the park that are enjoyed by local residents and large influxes of seasonal tourists to the Outer Banks. Administrative uses are represented by the offices of the Outer Banks Group and the RIHA (Lost Colony production). Almost completely encompassed by the boundaries of the National Historic Site is the Elizabethan Gardens site, which is owned by the RIHA and operated by the Garden Club of North Carolina. This privately-run venue is also a recreational setting that contributes to overall visitation of the National Historic Site. Supporting uses within the National Historic Site include housing, storage, utility, and maintenance functions.
Feature: Commemoration
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Interpretation
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Recreation
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Topography
The topography of the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site ranges from a low point of about 10 feet AMSL to about 20 feet AMSL in the area of the Waterside Theatre. In general, however, the historic site itself is relatively flat, with the most dramatic changes in natural topography at the shoreline edge of Roanoke and Albemarle Sounds. The beach there terminates at the foot of an eroding sand dune bluff line, which varies in height from two to twenty feet (National Park Service 1978:15 - complete citation to be added).
Within the generally flat topography of the National Historic Site, the earthwork fort, located in an open area about 400 feet east of the visitor center, is a notable feature (Figure 23). Reconstructed in 1934-1937 with CCC labor and again in 1947-1953 as part of the National Park Service reformulation of the site's interpretive program, this earthwork is representative of a fairly typical small fortification of the late sixteenth century. It is about seventy feet across and is constructed of earthen mounds about five feet high, which appear higher due to the depth of the surrounding perimeter ditch. The fort has a star shape created by triangular bastions on its north and east sides and an octagonal bastion on the south side. A fourth bastion provides the entrance point to the fort (Christine Trebellas and William Chapman, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Historic Resource Study (Atlanta, Georgia: National Park Service Southeast Regional Office, 1999), 85-87).
Another topographic feature found on the site is the trace of the old North Carolina Route 345 that led from Manteo, past the National Historic Site, and on to the ferry landing that offered transport across Albemarle Sound from the northwest corner of the island (Figure 24). Although most of the road was obliterated in the 1960s to make way for the new visitor center development, its profile can still be read as it passes through the middle of the visitor center parking loop. It is possible to follow the remnants of this track to find the site of the original entrance to the park, located between the Outer Banks Group Support Office and Lost Colony Activities Building.
FIGURE 23. The earthwork fort, reconstructed in the 1950s. Source: WJE, 2009.
FIGURE 24. Profile of the old North Carolina Route 345 as it passes through the visitor center parking loop. Source: JMA, 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Feature: Flat topography
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Shoreline Elevations along the Albemarle Sound
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Reconstructed Earthwork Fort
Feature Identification Number: LCS 00370, HS-1 Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Road Trace
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Vegetation
The pervasive vegetative character of the site is secondary growth woodland, with open areas that include overhead tree canopy (Figure 25). The historic core is screened from the rest of the site by shrubby growth, including invasive plants. Species observed on the site included: Virginia creeper {Parthenocissus quinquefolia), English ivy (Hedera helix), black cherry (Prunus serotina), osmanthus {Osmanthus sp.), dogwood (Cornusflohda), hickory pignut (Carya glabra), American holly (Ilex opaca), red mulberry (Morus rubra), black oak (Quercus velutina), blackjack oak (Q. marilandica), live oak (Q. virginiana),water oak (Q. nigra), willow oak (Q. phellos), persimmon (Diospyros sp.), loblolly pine (Pinus taida), shortleaf pine (P. echinata), spruce pine (P. glabra), eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.), silktree (Mimosa sp.), sparkleberry tree (Vaccinium arboreum), sumac (Rhus sp.), sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana), yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), yucca (Yucca gloriosa), wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera), baccharis (Baccharis halimifolia), American beautyberry (Callicarpe Americana), Carolina jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens), grape ( Vitus sp.), greenbriar (Smilax sp.), poison ivy (Toxicodendrum radicans), trumpet flower (Campsis radicans), blueberry (Vaccinium sp.), partridgeberry (Mitchella repens), and silkgrass (Pityopsis aspera).
During the 1960s, the visitor services area, from the Waterside Theatre parking lot around to the Elizabethan Gardens parking lot, was planted with a mix of native and exotic trees, shrubs, and groundcovers (National Park Service Drawing No. RAL 3022-B and National Park Service Drawing No. RAL 3037-A). Tree species included natives such as longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), live oak (Quercus virginiana), American holly (Ilex opaca), dogwood (Cornus florida), redbud (Cercis canadensis), southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), sweetgum (Liquidamber styraciflua), sourwood (Oxydendrum arboretum), black walnut (Juglans nigra), eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), and sassafras (Sassafras albidum), as well as the naturalized exotic, crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica). Native shrub species included inkberry (Ilex glabra), yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus), and yucca (Yucca gloriosa). Exotic shrubs and groundcovers included leucothoe (Leucothoe sp.), cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontal is), gardenia (Gardenia florida), and liriope (Liriope spicata). Many of the tree and shrub plantings near the visitor center were formally arranged in lines or, as in the case of the yaupon, forming a geometric enclosure around the visitor center plaza (Figure 26). However, most of the other plants were installed in loose, informal groupings. Most of these plants installed in the 1960s appear to be extant, with the exception of many of the exotic shrubs.
FIGURE 25. The typical woodland vegetative character of the Fort Raleigh site. Trees include live oaks, longleaf pines, and dogwoods, and vines including Virginia creeper and the more invasive English ivy. Source: WJE, 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 26. Plantings of native yaupon have been clipped into a wall-like hedge that screens the visitor center plaza from the historic core of the site. Source: JMA, 2009.
Feature: Secondary Growth Woodland
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Mission 66 Vegetation
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Circulation
Primary vehicular access to the site is via State Road 64, which leads from the village of Manteo, past the National Historic Site, and westward to cross the Albemarle Sound to reach the North Carolina mainland (Figure 27). Most visitors enter the site via Fort Raleigh Road, a two-lane asphalt-paved curving roadway that terminates in a circular driveway on the east side of the visitor center. Angled parking for the visitor center is accessed from the circular drive (Figure 28). Two other asphalt drives lead from the circular drive to the larger parking area provided for the Waterside Theatre (Figure 29). The easternmost of these is the old Dare Avenue, a street platted as part of the W. J. Griffin Subdivision prior to establishment of the park. Dare Avenue provides vehicular access to three small houses on the Roanoke Sound side of the National Historic Site.
Pear Pad Road is a park-owned road that leads from Fort Raleigh Road to the northwest end of the National Historic Site on the Albemarle Sound (refer to Figure 21 ). Portions of this road follow the trace of the old North Carolina Highway 345, the function of which was relocated to U.S. Highway 264 in the 1960s with the Mission 66 expansion of the National Historic Site (refer to Figure 24). Access drives to the parking lots for the Outer Banks Group and Lost Colony offices, as well as the Elizabethan Gardens, lead off of Pear Pad Road. About midway between Fort Raleigh Road and Albemarle Sound are the access drives for the maintenance entrance to the Elizabethan Gardens and the maintenance yard for the National Historic Site. Driveways that serve the four staff residences further to the west also intersect with this road. Pear Pad Road terminates in a cul-de-sac that overlooks the water.
A dirt road leads south from Pear Pad Road to the Water Plant (Figure 30). This road continues from the plant as an unpaved pedestrian trail, now called the Freedom Trail. This road and trail is the trace for the Old Ferry Trail, identified on a plat prepared in 1958 for a boundary adjustment prior to the 1960s expansion (National Park Service Drawing No. RAL 2050-A). Another trace, found on the same plat, was identified as "private trail" and led to the south end of Dare Avenue. A portion of the visitor center parking circle was constructed on this trace. Evidence of this trace was not observed during fieldwork for this CLI study.
Between the visitor center and the Outer Banks Group Support Office is the visitor center plaza, a concrete-paved open space that is the central gathering point for large groups visiting the site (Figure 31). The plaza, which is approximately 1 26 feet by 86 feet in plan, was designed based on a grid pattern that extended out from the main door of the visitor center and aligned with the walkway from the parking lot (National Park Service Drawing No. RAL 3023). The main paving material is concrete with the grid lines expressed in colored concrete. The plaza is enclosed on its south and west sides by 18 inch tall brick retaining seat/walls capped with precast concrete units to match the paving. Two of the grid units have raised brick planters with precast concrete caps and one of the grid units has a flagpole at its center. The balance of the originally-constructed broad stairway that led to the visitor center door has been modified by construction of a ramp on its west side. Concrete paths lead from the plaza to the restroom building and to the Outer Banks Group Support Office on the south side (Figure 32).
An asphalt-paved trail, called the Visitor Trail for the purposes of this report, leads from the visitor center plaza into the heart of the historic core of the National Historic Site. It circles up to the earthwork fort and back to the rear of the Lost Colony Offices. A wood mulch trail leads from the visitor center trail, approximately parallel to the trace of State Highway 345, and turns to meet the concrete sidewalk that parallels the drive to the Elizabethan Gardens parking area. Another asphalt trail, called here the Theater Trail, extends from the Waterside Theatre parking lot to the theater entrance and beyond to access the theater's costume shop area. A third asphalt trail, called here the Earthwork Trail, connects this trail and the Visitor Center Trail and passes by the earthwork fort.
The Thomas Hariot Nature Trail, formerly known as the Dogwood Trail, is a packed earth woodland path, constructed in 1960. This trail leads from the Earthwork Trail to the edge of the water and circles back onto itself. Interpretive markers along the trail provide information about natural features (Figure 33).
An asphalt-paved path provides pedestrian access parallel with U.S. Highway 264 and leads from Manteo to the bridge over the Albemarle Sound.
Another pedestrian path within the National Historic Site is the Freedom Trail, which parallels the road to the Water Plant and may, further into the site, join the trace of the Old Ferry Trail. Like the Thomas Hariot Trail it is a packed earth woodland trail.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
The Freedom Trail leads to the Freedman's Point Wayside Exhibit, which is located at the east end of the bridge over the Albemarle Sound. This area consists of a parking lot adjacent to a small grassy area with picnic tables and trash receptacles (Figure 34).
FIGURE 27. U.S. Highway 264, north to the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site entrance at Fort Raleigh Road. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 28. U.S. Highway 264, looking west. Source: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 29. Parking lot for the Waterside Theatre. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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FIGURE 30. The road formerly known as the Old Ferry Trail leads to the Water Plant and, past that, becomes the Freedom Trail. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 31. Paved plaza between the visitor center, right, and the Outer Banks Offices, left. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
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FIGURE 32. Mission 66 era plan for the development of the site. Source: National Park Service, Technical Information Center, Denver, Colorado.
FIGURE 33. Thomas Hariot Trail and one of the interpretive markers along the trail. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 34. Parking lot at Freedman's Point Wayside Exhibit. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
Feature: U.S. Highway 264
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Fort Raleigh Road
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Circle Drive and Visitor Center Parking
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Dare Avenue
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Waterside Theatre Parking Lot
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Outer Banks Office Parking Lot
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: RIHA/Elizabethan Gardens Parking Lot
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Feature: Pear Pad Road
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Elizabethan Gardens Maintenance Road
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Maintenance Yard Road
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: North Carolina Route 345 Trace
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Old Ferry Trail Trace
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Private Trail Trace
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Visitor Center Plaza and Walk Complex
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Visitor Trail
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Theatre Trail
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Earthwork Trail
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Thomas Hariot Nature Trail
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Feature: Freedom Trail
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Freedman's Point
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Buildings and Structures
Buildings and structures within Fort Raleigh National Historic Site include the buildings constructed during the 1960s for the National Historic Site expansion, the Waterside Theatre buildings, the Water Plant structures, the maintenance yard buildings, the four employee residences on Pear Pad Road, the two houses at the end of Dare Avenue, and the structures installed to control shoreline erosion around the site.
The Lindsay C. Warren Visitor Center was constructed in 1965 and formally dedicated on July 13, 1966. It was named in honor of the congressman who had been active in establishing the park in the 1930s (Cameron Binkley and Steven Davis, Preserving the Mystery: An Administrative History of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, November 2003), 46). The one-story building is an H-shaped wood structure covered in diagonal wood tongue and groove siding (Figure 35). The building sits on a foundation covered with brick masonry and an asphalt-shingled low rectangular hip roof shelters the entire structure, creating a protected entrance to the building. Floor to ceiling windows are located on each side of the doorway at the recessed entry on the south side of the building. Three steps and an accessibility ramp lead to the entry from the adjacent plaza. A small bay containing six windows projects from the east side of the building. A recessed bay of eight windows is situated on the north side of the structure. A skylight, located at the pinnacle of the roof, also illuminates the interior space. Today the structure continues to be used as a visitor center and is home to the Elizabethan Room, a reconstructed room from a sixteenth-century house.
In addition to the visitor center, other buildings constructed as part of the Mission 66 development in the visitor area of the site include the Outer Banks Group Support Office, and Lost Colony Activities Building, as well as the restroom and generator room buildings discussed below. All of these buildings share similar characteristics, such as low hip roofs, diagonal wood siding, and foundations clad with brick masonry. The Outer Banks Group Support Office houses staff offices for Fort Raleigh, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and the Wright Brothers National Memorial, and is located southwest of the visitor center (Figure 36). The structure is composed of six square pavilions organized along a central rectangular structure. Each pavilion rests on a foundation clad with brick masonry. Each pavilion is covered with diagonal wood, tongue and groove siding with an asphalt shingled hip roof. Sets of two, floor-to-ceiling windows are situated at the corners and centers of the pavilions.
The Lost Colony Activities Building is a one-story wood structure that is rectangular in plan (Figure 37). Like the visitor center and Outer Banks Group Support Office, the building has a low hip roof, diagonal wood siding, and a brick masonry-clad foundation. Four large windows flank the main entry. The main entry is situated three steps above grade. Today the Lost Colony Building is utilized by the RIHA.
Adjacent to the visitor center and Outer Banks Group Support Office is a small building containing public restroom facilities (Figure 38). The restroom building is approximately square in plan and is clad with diagonal wood, tongue and groove siding, with an asphalt shingled hip roof with two skylights.
Directly west of the Outer Banks Group Support Office are two small generator rooms (Figure 39). The generator rooms, which are rectangular in plan, are one-story wood structures with diagonal wood, tongue and groove siding, asphalt shingle hip roofs and brick masonry-clad foundations. The Theatre Box Office is located at the end of the asphalt path to the Waterside Theatre, adjacent to the large parking lot built for theater patrons (Figure 40). The small rectangular building is covered with vertical and diagonal wood siding and is protected by an asphalt shingled hip roof. Today the building serves as a box office for events held at the Waterside Theatre.
The Waterside Theatre was originally constructed in 1937. Designed by Albert Quentin "Skipper" Bell, the Waterside Theatre contained approximately 3,500 seats, a lower section, an upper area, two radiating aisles, and a center aisle. Additional structures included a control room, two square-logged light towers, storage and dressing areas, and a stage that was elevated approximately 2 feet above the lower tier of seats. The stage had a log chapel, several log buildings, and a log palisade as a backdrop (Christine Trebellas and William Chapman, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Historic Resource Study (Atlanta, Georgia: National Park Service Southeast Regional Office, 1999), A-3). However, the original theater structure and several support buildings were damaged by a hurricane in 1944, and then completely destroyed by fire in 1947. The theater was reconstructed in 1947 and then damaged by another hurricane in 1960. A newly rebuilt Waterside Theatre was dedicated in 1962. The theater was renovated in
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
1998 2001, the theater was renovated. Due to reconstructions and renovations over time, this structure and its support buildings lack integrity to qualify as contributing features to the historic site.
Today, this group of buildings includes the theater structure and seating, two concession buildings, dressing rooms, theater, a lighting booth, two lighting towers, and a theater office building (Figures 41 and 42). The theater is approximately 130 wide feet across its upper level and 70 feet wide at the stage end. It is approximately 150 feet long from the back of the stage to the facade of the control building at the rear of the theater. The 1,780 seat theater can be accessed using four aisles in the upper and lower tiers. The stage includes a 12 foot by 24 foot gable-fronted chapel, two 5 foot by 13 foot open sided buildings, and two shingle-roofed half-timbered structures all surrounded by a log palisade. Support structures include the Costume Shop (Figure 43), a backstage building, and other small wood-framed buildings.
The buildings associated with the Water Plant are located off of Pear Pad Road along what was the Manns Harbor Ferry Road. The complex includes a large water storage tank, another tank that appears to store fuel, a small concrete block building, and three small storage sheds constructed of wood (Figure 44). Working drawings from 1964 for this area indicate that at that time, a Pump House, two wells with jet pumps, and a 2,000-gallon water storage tank were installed (National Park Service Drawing No. RAL 301 IB). It is not known if the facilities identified today date from 1964 or have since been replaced. Their condition was not determined.
Located further west on Pear Pad Road, the maintenance yard is fenced with chain link and contains three buildings: the Museum Resource Center, the Museum Resource Center Garage, and the Maintenance Building. The original facility housing the museum resources was completed in 1988. The collection quickly outgrew the original facility and an addition was constructed in 1997, completing the new Museum Resource Center (Figure 45). This 2,800 square foot facility, constructed of concrete block with a steel roof, provides a secure environment that protects and preserves the museum collections of the entire Outer Banks Group. The facility contains three separate storage areas, each with its own climate control system, and allows records and artifacts to be sorted and stored under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. It is in very good condition (Binkley and Davis, 97). The Museum Resource Center Garage, another large concrete block building with a steel roof that is adjacent to the Museum Resource Center, is an unconditioned space that provides storage for larger archival items (Figure 46). It appears to be in good condition. Also within the Maintenance area is the Maintenance Building, a concrete block structure with three garages that serves as storage and offices for site maintenance (Figure 47). This building has an asphalt shingle roof and appears to be in good condition. A number of small portable wood frame sheds have been stored within the maintenance yard (refer to Figure 47).
Adjacent to the maintenance yard is a wood frame building with wood shingle siding and an asphalt shingle roof (Figure 48). Constructed in 1995, the building has a small wood porch and accessible ramp attached to the front facade.
To the west, along Pear Pad Road, are four residences that are used as seasonal staff housing (Figures 49 and 50). The wood frame structures sit on concrete block perimeter foundation with wood siding and wood-framed double- hung windows with exterior storm windows. Operable wood shutters flank each set of windows. Each residence has an attached one-car garage. They residences appear to be in good condition.
Two other residences within the site boundaries are the Beehive, constructed in 1960, and the Prince House, constructed in 1972 (Figures 51 and 52). These two buildings house Lost Colony staff on a seasonal basis. The Beehive is also a wood frame building. It rests on a concrete block foundation and its wood siding is painted yellow. It also has a large red brick chimney. The gable roof has asphalt shingles. The Prince House is a small wood frame structure supported on wood piers. It is covered in asbestos shingles and has an asphalt shingled roof.
Other structures within the National Historic Site include the Dough Family Grape Arbor and structures along the shoreline that control erosion. The Dough Family Grape Arbor is located on an island in the Waterside Theatre parking lot (Figure 53). It is a wooden structure about 32 feet square with two sets of vertical supports spaced at 4 feet on center. Its wooden trellis is about six feet high and supports a large grape vine, which is the only visible remaining feature left from the old Dough homestead.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Shoreline erosion has been an ongoing problem at the historic site. Solutions vary, depending on the location and severity of the problem along the waterline. On the far western end of the site, adjacent the turn-around at the end of Pear Pad Road, a series of groins (wooden structures perpendicular to the shoreline) have been installed to slow the erosion of sand on that promontory (refer Figures 16 and 17). In other locations, such as the shoreline along the northern boundary of the site, granite rip-rap has been installed to slow down erosion. Since 1941, a series of jetties has been constructed close to the Waterside Theatre to protect it from erosion. In 1978, concrete block revetments were installed along the shoreline to protect both the Dough Cemetery and the Waterside Theatre from erosion.
In 2010, following completion of the field survey, two new support structures were built near the Waterside Theatre. The Lost Colony Maintenance Facility is a one-story, rectangular gable roofed structure clad with vinyl siding Figure 54). The Lost Colony Storage Facility is a small gable roofed, painted concrete block structure with vinyl siding at the gable end (Figure 55). The roofing on both buildings is asphalt shingles. At the same time, new light towers were erected adjacent the theatre.
FIGURE 35. Fort Raleigh Historic Site visitor center. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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FIGURE 36. Outer Banks Group Support Office. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 37. Lost Colony Activities Building. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 38. Restroom building. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 39. One of the generator buildings. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 40. Theatre Box Office. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 41. Waterside Theatre, looking north, showing the theater structure with gabled chapel, open-front side buildings, Elizabethan-style side buildings, parapet, lighting towers, and log palisade. A vista to the Roanoke Sound is available from the upper levels of the Waterside Theatre. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 42. Waterside Theatre, looking south, showing the theater office and storage building in the center, the lighting booth, and one of the two entrance gates. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 43. The recently-constructed Costume Shop. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 44. Buildings and utilities at the Water Plant. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 45. The Museum Resource Center. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 46. The Museum Resource Center Garage. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 47. The Maintenance Building. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 48. Wood frame building adjacent to the maintenance yard. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
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FIGURE 49. Four small wood-frame residences were constructed in 1966 to house National Park Service staff. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 50. One of four small wood-frame residences. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 51. Beehive. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 52. Prince House. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 53. Dough Family Grape Arbor. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 54. Lost Colony Maintenance Facility. Source: Fort Raleigh NHS, 2010.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 55. Lost Colony Storage Facility. Source: Fort Raleigh NHS, 2010.
Feature: Lindsay C. Warren Visitor Center
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Outer Banks Group Support Office
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Lost Colony Activities Building
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Restroom Building
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Generator Rooms
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Waterside Theatre Complex
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Water Plant Pump House
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Feature: Water Plant Storage Tank
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Museum Resource Building
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Museum Resource Building Garage
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Maintenance Building
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Staff Residence in Maintenance Area
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Four Staff Residences on Pear Pad Road
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Prince House
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Beehive
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Dough Family Grape Arbor
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Shoreline Erosion Protection
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Entrance Monument Signs
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Feature: Lost Colony Maintenance Facility
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Lost Colony Storage Facility
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Views and Vistas
The most dramatic views and vistas within the National Historic Site are toward Roanoke Sound and Albemarle Sound from locations within the site. A vista to the Roanoke Sound is available from the Waterside Theatre and is framed by the log palisade that forms the two wings of the stage (refer to Figure 41). Just to the west, another dramatic vista is presented where the Thomas Hariot Nature Trail makes a sharp turn at the water's edge (Figure 57). Here, seating has been provided for viewing the water Figure 56). In addition to these two designed vistas, a sequence of dramatic views to Albemarle Sound is available where Pear Pad Road terminates at the Dough Cemetery (refer to Figures 16 and 17, and Figure 58). Similar views are available from the small park parcel where U.S. Highway 264 crosses the Albemarle Sound (Figure 58). Otherwise, the site is enclosed by stretches of dense vegetation that prevent long views and vistas into and from the site.
FIGURE 56. Seating area designed to present vista of the Roanoke Sound at a turn in the Thomas Nature Hariot Trail. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 57. Opening in the vegetation at the end of Pear Pad Road is the beginning of a sequence of views to Albemarle Sound. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 58. Views to Albemarle Sound are available from the small park parcel where U.S. Highway 264 crosses the sound. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
Feature: Vista to Roanoke Sound from Waterside Theatre
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Vista to Roanoke Sound from Thomas Hariot Nature Trail
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Views of Albemarle Sound - Pear Pad Road
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Views of Albemarle Sound - small park parcel
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Small-Scale Features
Small-scale features within the landscape of the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site include a number of markers and monuments that commemorate or memorialize people or events. Other small features include site furnishings such as flagpoles, benches, picnic tables, trash receptacles, lights, and bicycle racks. Signage on the site includes the entrance monument signs and a variety of informational, regulatory, directive, and interpretive signs. In addition, a variety offences provide security or enclosure.
Upon entrance into the visitor center area of the National Historic Site, the first monument encountered is the First Light of Freedom Monument (Figure 59). This black polished vertical granite slab on a rusticated granite base was erected in 2001 by the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom organization to commemorate the existence of a freedmen's colony that existed from 1863 to 1867 on land that was to later become part of the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (Richard E. Miller, "First Light of Freedom: The Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island," The Historical Marker Database, <www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=4626>, accessed October 17, 2009).
The Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Marker is sited along the trail that leads from the visitor center toward the earthwork fort (Figure 60). The monument has a rusticated base and sub-base of North Carolina granite that supports a vertical slab of gray Virginia granite that was polished on one side for the inscription. The sub-base measures 41 inches by 22 inches and the monument is approximately five feet tall. Commissioned by the RCMA, the monument was erected in 1896 within the earthwork fort. It was relocated in 1934-1937, and then again to its present location in 1950. The main inscription is carved on the polished side and describes Raleigh's colonies, focusing on Virginia Dare's birth and christening. The reverse side of the monument, although rusticated, also displays an inscription that was added to memorialize the founder and first president of the RCMA, Edward Graham Daves. The monument appears to be in good condition, but there is a note in the List of Contributing Structures from 2003 that reports that the monument was leaning. It is not known if the condition was corrected.
Located east of the earthwork fort is a stone marker believed to be one of the stones placed by Graham Daves in 1902 at prominent locations along the property's boundary (Figure 61 ). The stone, which is square in shape with a circular indentation, appears on an archeological base map prepared by Jean Harrington in 1947. A marker stone in a similar location is referenced on the 1896 survey map prepared for the RCMA (Correspondence with Guy Prentice, Archeologist, NPS Southeast Archeological Center, March 2010).
There are two markers within the site that commemorate President Franklin D. Roosevelt's visit to the National Historic Site in the summer of 1937. One marks the spot where FDR spoke on August 18, 1937, to the gathered crowd before the performance of The Lost Colony (Figure 62). This one-foot-square concrete slab marker is set at grade between the Waterside Theatre and the earthwork fort. Its inscription reads: SPOKE F.D.R. 8/18/37. The marker is in good condition, although easily overlooked due to leaf fall.
The second FDR marker is a polished granite plaque measuring 22 inches by 17 inches, set slightly above grade in a planting bed within the Waterside Theatre complex (Figure 63). The marker commemorates the spot from which FDR viewed the twenty-third Lost Colony performance on August 18, 1937. The inscription on the marker reads: "On This Spot Franklin D. Roosevelt Witnessed the 23rd Performance of The Lost Colony August 18, 1937." The marker is in good condition.
There are two other markers located within the Waterside Theatre complex. One is a bust of Paul Green ( 1 894— 1 98 1 ), the author of The Lost Colony. This play was the first of a total of seventeen outdoor dramas that he wrote (Figure 64). The bust was placed in its current location after Green's death. The second marker is a bronze plaque commemorating Albert Quentin Bell, 1896-1964, the designer and builder of the original theater, as well as the horticulturalist who helped create the Elizabethan Gardens (Figure 65). The plaque is mounted on a concrete base set in a planting bed at the upper level of the Waterside Theatre complex.
In addition to these markers, there are eight stone grave markers located within the Dough Family Cemetery at the end of Pear Pad Road (Figure 66). The dates of death on the markers range from 1866 to 1906. One of the graves is marked with a raised brick table inset with a marble plaque and upright headstone. Other graves are marked with headstones and footstones made of limestone or marble and inscribed with the deceased's name, date of birth, and date of death. Some display carved sentiments or decorative leaves or roses. These markers are in fair condition with
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
leaning, damage, and deterioration. They are endangered by the erosion that plagues the sand bluff on which the cemetery is located.
The boundaries of the site are identified with boundary markers. Several are small round bronze plaques installed on concrete footings (Figure 67). They read: "U.S. Department of the Interior, N.P.S., Unlawful to Disturb." Other boundary markers are simple wood posts with signs that read: "U.S. Boundary, N.P.S." (Figure 68).
There are four flagpoles located within the site. One, a large metal pole, is located within the visitor center plaza and displays the American flag (Figure 69). Two others are smaller wood poles near the theater that did not display flags at the time of the site visit (Figure 70). Also, there is a flagpole in the interior of the earthwork fort, which flies the Fort Raleigh flag (Figure 71).
There is a variety of seating available within the site, including benches and picnic tables. Wood benches and wood benches with metal bases (Figure 72) located within the visitor center plaza appear to be the original features from the 1960s. There are also wood benches donated by the Boy Scouts located along the circulation system near the Waterside Theatre (Figure 73). Near the benches are trash receptacles in a range of styles; most are wood but vary in design and size (Figure 74 and 75) There are large metal dumpsters located in various parts of the site. Wood picnic tables are present in isolated locations, sometimes near benches and trash receptacles (Figure 76).
There are numerous lighting fixtures on the site. A number of the fixtures are small in scale and have been provided for illumination of the path system around the Waterside Theatre and throughout the visitor center area. The light fixtures are typically contemporary metal bollards but near the theater small lanterns of a more historical character have been provided (Figure 77). There are other fixtures associated with the parking lots and signage around the visitor center and the theater (Figure 78).
Signage on the site falls into the categories of building signage, entrance sign, informational and regulatory signage, and interpretive signage. There is a large kiosk (Figure 79) near the theater that provides news and updates on performances and a fiberglass case with wooden poles for further display purposes (Figure 80). Trails are marked with identification signs and interpretive signage, as are significant historic features of the park (Figure 81). Buildings have attached signage (Figure 82) and there are also informational signs that orient visitors to the function of each structure (Figure 83). The entrance sign consists of a large freestanding sign, visible from the highway (Figure 84), and also the older National Park Service concrete entrance walls along the entrance road (Figure 85).
There are a number offences located on the site which vary in function and design. Chain link fencing is associated with the maintenance areas and garages (Figure 86), while small wooden fences are used in various places within the historic area of the park and at Freedman's Point (Figure 87). There are also fences in the theater area that screen utility boxes.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
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FIGURE 59. First Light of Freedom monument. Source: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., 2009.
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FIGURE 60. Front side of the Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Monument. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 61. Remnant of one of the commemorative stone markers placed in 1902. Source: Guy Prentice, Archeologist, NPS Southeast Archeological Center, 2009.
FIGURE 62. The FDR Marker. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 63. The Franklin D. Roosevelt Theater Marker, located within the Waterside Theatre complex. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 64. Bust of Paul Green, author of The Lost Colony. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 65. Bronze plaque commemorating Albert Quentin Bell. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 66. Marble headstone memorializing Olga Dough. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 67. Boundary Marker of Bronze with Concrete Footer located across from the main entrance to the Park. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
5$
Left: FIGURE 68. Boundary Marker wood post with sign, located at the Dough Cemetery. Source: JMA, Inc. 2009. Right: FIGURE 69. Flagpole at the visitor center. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 70. Wooden flagpoles inside the Waterside Theatre. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
;**<£*#
FIGURE 71. Wooden flagpole on the interior of the earthwork fort. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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FIGURE 72. Wood and metal benches near the visitor center. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 73. Wood bench near theater; bench provided by Boy Scouts. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 74. Wooden trash receptacle in the park. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 75. Wooden trash receptacle in the park. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 76. Picnic table in the parking lot. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
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FIGURE 77. Small metal bollard light located throughout the visitor center area of the park. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
Left, FIGURE 78. Parking lot lighting. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009. Right, FIGURE 79. Large kiosk near the Waterside Theatre. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 80. Display case near the Waterside Theatre. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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FIGURE 81. Grouping of signs in the park. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 82. Building with signage. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 83. Free-standing informational signs. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 84. Free-standing entrance sign. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
FIGURE 85. Concrete entrance sign and wall. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 86. Chain link fence in the maintenance yard. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
FIGURE 87. Wooden fences typical of those located in various parts of the park. Source: JMA, Inc., 2009.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Feature: First Light of Freedom Monument
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Raleigh Colony/Virginia Dare Marker
Feature Identification Number: HS-3, LCS 090001 Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Commemorative Stone Marker
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: FDR Marker
Feature Identification Number: HS-4, LCS 09 1 646 Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Franklin D. Roosevelt Theater Marker
Feature Identification Number: HS-5, LCS 091647 Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Paul Green Bust
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Albert Quentin Bell Monument
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Dough Cemetery Grave Markers
Feature Identification Number: HS-2, LCS 090000 Type of Feature Contribution: Contributing
Feature: Flagpoles
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Benches and Picnic Tables
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Trash Receptacles
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Feature: Lighting
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Building Signage
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Entrance Sign
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Informational and Regulatory Signage
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Interpretive Signage
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
Feature: Fences
Feature Identification Number:
Type of Feature Contribution: Non-contributing
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Condition Assessment
Inventory Unit
Stabilization Cost: N/A Stabilization Cost Date: N/A Stabilization Cost Level of Estimate: N/A Stabilization Cost Estimator: N/A Stabilization Measures Description: N/A Stabilization Cost Explanatory Narrative: N/A
Condition Assessment
Condition Assessment: Varies, overall fair
Condition Assessment Date: May 18-20, 2009 Condition Assessment Explanatory Narrative:
Condition assessment occurred during field work, May 18-20, 2009.
Impacts to Inventory Unit
Type of Impact:
External or Internal: Impact Description:
Type of Impact:
External or Internal: Impact Description:
Type of Impact:
External or Internal: Impact Description:
Type of Impact:
External or Internal: Impact Description:
Adjacent Lands
External
Development of adjacent properties and as well as within the private lands within the authorized park boundary have the potential to affect the historic site and its interpretation. Possible impacts include construction and interference with viewsheds.
Deferred Maintenance
Internal
Deferred maintenance on buildings, structures, circulation features, earthwork fort, and vegetation within the developed area may lead to the loss of these resources and the historic integrity of the site.
Deterioration
Internal
Deterioration of buildings, structures, circulation features, earthwork fort, and vegetation within the historic site may lead to the loss of these resources and the historic integrity of the site.
Erosion
External and Internal
Within the site, erosion of the reconstructed earthwork fort and the nature trail and other natural site features may lead to loss of historic resources. Along the shore and adjacent the site, erosion of the coastline has the potential to lead to loss of portions of the historic site.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Type of Impact:
External or Internal: Impact Description:
Invasive Plants
Internal
Invasive vegetation on the site threatens the integrity of historic views.
Secondary tree growth threatens the stability of earthwork fort due to danger of
wind-throw.
Type of Impact:
External or Internal: Impact Description:
Operations on Site
Internal
Site operations, particularly the use of equipment and vehicles to support
performances of The Lost Colony, have the potential to damage site features.
Type of Impact:
External or Internal: Impact Description:
Visitation
Internal
The large numbers of visitors to the site during the summer, both to visit the historic resources and to attend performances of The Lost Colony, has the potential to damage landscape features including the reconstructed earthwork fort, nature trail, and vegetation.
Type of Impact:
External or Internal: Impact Description:
Other: Hurricanes
External
The North Carolina coast is intermittently affected by hurricanes, which have
the potential to catastrophically damage natural and built features of the site.
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Treatment
Inventory Unit
Approved Landscape Treatment: N/A Approved Landscape Treatment Completed: N/A Approved Landscape Treatment Explanatory Narrative: N/A Approved Landscape Treatment Document: N/A Approved Landscape Treatment Document Date: N/A Approved Landscape Treatment Cost: N/A Approved Landscape Treatment Cost Date: N/A Approved Landscape Treatment Level of Estimate: N/A Approved Landscape Treatment Cost - Estimator: N/A Approved Landscape Treatment Cost Explanatory Narrative: N/A
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Bibliography and Supplemental Information
Bibliography
Citation Author: Binkley, Cameron, and Steven Davis
Citation Title: Preserving the Mystery: Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Administrative History
Year of Publication: November 2003
Source Name: National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office
Citation Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Citation Author: Corbitt, David L., editor
Citation Title: Richard Hakluyt, Explorations, Descriptions, and Attempted Settlements of Carolina, 1584-1590
Year of Publication: 1948
Source Name: North Carolina Department of Archives and History
Citation Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Citation Author: Crumley, Brian T., PhD., and Frank J. J. Miele, editor Citation Title: Special History Study: Roanoke Island, 1865 to 1940 Year of Publication: 2005
Source Name: National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office Citation Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Citation Author: Dare County, North Carolina
Citation Title: Roanoke Island Land Classification Map
Year of Publication: Accessed October 26, 2009
Source Name: Dare County Planning Department, <www.co.dare.nc.us/Forms/LUSE/maps/roanoke.pdf>
Citation Location: Manteo, North Carolina
Citation Author: Grou, Lou; Jack Walker, and Guy Prentice, with contributions by Julie Williams
Citation Title: Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Archeological Overview and Assessment, SEAC Ace. No. 1333
Year of Publication: 2002
Source Name: National Park Service, Southeast Archeological Center
Citation Location: Tallahassee, Florida
Citation Author: Harrington, Jean C.
Citation Title: Archeology and the Enigma of Fort Raleigh
Year of Publication: 1984
Source Name: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
Citation Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Citation Author: Johnson, James E.
Citation Title: Managing Earthworks under Forest Cover
Year of Publication: 1998
Source Name: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Citation Location: Blacksburg, Virginia
Citation Author: Kirk, J.S., Walter A. Cutter, and Thomas W. Morse, editors
Citation Title: Emergency Relief in North Carolina. A Record of the Development and the Activities of the North
Carolina Emergency Relief Administration, 1932-1935.
Year of Publication: 1936
Source Name: North Carolina Emergency Relief Administration
Citation Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
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Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Citation Author: Kupperman, Karen Ordahl Citation Title: Roanoke: The Abandoned Colony Year of Publication: 1984 Source Name: Rowman & Allenheld Citation Location: Totowa, New Jersey
Citation Author: McCarty, Laura P.
Citation Title: "New Findings at the Lost Colony," National Parks 67, no. 7-8
Year of Publication: 1993
Source Name: Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Citation Location: Manteo, North Carolina
Citation Author: Miller, Richard E.
Citation Title: "First Light of Freedom: The Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island"
Year of Publication: 2008
Source Name: The Historical Marker Database
Citation Location: <www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=4626>, accessed October 17, 2009
Citation Author: National Park Service
Citation Title: Statement for Management, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Year of Publication: 1994
Source Name: Southeast Regional Office, National Park Service
Citation Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Citation Author: Porter, Charles W., Ill
Citation Title: Adventurers to a New World: The Roanoke Colony, 1585-1587
Year of Publication: 1972
Source Name: National Park Service
Citation Location: Washington, D.C.
Citation Author: Powell, William S.
Citation Title: Paradise Preserved: A History of the Roanoke Island Historical Association
Year of Publication: 1965
Source Name: University of North Carolina Press
Citation Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Citation Author: Quinn, David Beers
Citation Title: The Lost Colonists: Their Fortune and Probable Fate
Year of Publication: 1984
Source Name: North Carolina Division of Archives and History
Citation Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Citation Author: Quinn, David Beers, and Alison M. Quinn, eds.
Citation Title: The First Colonists: Documents on the Planting of the First English Settlements in North
America, 1584-1590
Year of Publication: 1982
Source Name: North Carolina Division of Archives and History
Citation Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Citation Author: Roush, J. Fred, Historian
Citation Title: Master Plan for the Preservation and Use of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site - Mission 66 Edition
Year of Publication: 1962
Source Name: National Park Service, Technical Information Center
Citation Location: Denver, Colorado
Cultural Landscape Inventory - May 2010 Page 96 of 97
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Citation Author: Stick, David
Citation Title: Roanoke Island: The Beginnings of English America
Year of Publication: 1983
Source Name: University of North Carolina Press
Citation Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Citation Author: Tocque, Philip Citation Title: Newfoundland Year of Publication: 1878 Source Name: John B. Magnum Citation Location: Toronto
Citation Author: Trebellas, Christine, and William Chapman
Citation Title: Fort Raleigh National Historic Site: Historic Resource Study
Year of Publication: June 20, 1978, listed November 16, 1978
Source Name: National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office
Citation Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Citation Author: Trebellas, Christine, Architectural Historian, and Architectural Historian and William Chapman,
Preservation Program Director, University of Hawaii, National Park Service Southeast Support Office
Citation Title: National Register Nomination - Amendment (Additional Documentation)
Year of Publication: November 1998, listed March 5, 1999
Source Name: National Park Service
Citation Location: Washington, D.C.
Citation Author: USDA
Citation Title: Web Soil Survey
Year of Publication: Accessed October 1, 2009
Source Name: United States Department of Agriculture National Resources Conservation Service,
<websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/HomePage.htm>, accessed October 1, 2009.
Citation Location: Washington, D.C.
Citation Author: Warfield, Ronald G.
Citation Title: National Register Nomination
Year of Publication: November 20, 1976, approved November 16, 1978
Source Name: National Park Service, Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Citation Location: Manteo, North Carolina
Supplemental Information
NRID No.: 66000102 DSC/TIC No.: [to be added by SEROJ ARI No.: [to be added by SEROJ HABS No: NC-389
Cultural Landscape Inventory - May 2010 Page 97 of 97