When was Roanoke Island discovered?
Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island was the site of the Roanoke Colony, an English settlement initially established in 1585 by Sir Walter Raleigh. A group of about 120 men, women and children arrived in 1587. Shortly after arriving in this New World, colonist Eleanor Dare, daughter of Governor John White, gave birth to Virginia Dare. She was the first English child born in North America. Governor White returned to England later that year for supplies. Due to impending war with Spain, White was unable to return to Roanoke Island until 1590. When he arrived, the colony had vanished. The fate of those first colonists remains a mystery to this day and is one of America's most intriguing unsolved mysteries.[3] Archaeologists, historians, and other researchers continue to work to resolve the mystery. Visitors to the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site can watch The Lost Colony, the second-longest-running outdoor theatre production in the United States, which presents a conjecture of the fate of Roanoke Colony.
SS Roanoke
Following the discovery of gold in Klondike, Yukon during 1896, the Klondike Gold Rush brought a flood of trade during 1897 to the Pacific Northwest. This boom encouraged shipping companies to bring steamers to the region for the 1898 season. The "Roanoke", bound from Baltimore, was one of 17 steamers listed in the February 28, 1898 edition of the Seattle "Post-Intelligencer" as heading for Seattle to transport miners and their supplies to the gold fields.