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John White's map "La Virginea Pars" (c. 1585), British Museum; a patch on it was studied in 2012 in the search for the Lost Colony
John White's map "La Virginea Pars" (c. 1585), British Museum; a patch on it was studied in 2012 in the search for the Lost Colony. Image: John White · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Unexplained mysteries · Roanoke Island, North Carolina · 1587 – 1590

The Lost Colony of Roanoke

Unresolved1587 CE – 1590 CERoanoke Island, North Carolina, USA

In 1587 more than a hundred English men, women and children settled on Roanoke Island. When their governor returned three years later, they were gone, leaving only a carved word: CROATOAN.

In 1587 an English expedition sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh brought about 117 men, women and children to Roanoke Island, in what is now North Carolina. Their governor, the artist John White, sailed back to England for supplies. War with Spain delayed his return until August 1590. He found the settlement abandoned and the letters 'CRO' carved on a tree and 'CROATOAN' on a post. White wrote that the colonists had agreed to carve the name of the place they had moved to, with a cross if they left in distress; there was no cross. Croatoan was the name of an island to the south, now part of Hatteras, and of its Native people. Bad weather prevented White from going there, and the colonists were never found.

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How to read the labels

EstablishedSupported by strong, converging evidence.
ContestedEvidence exists but qualified scholars disagree.
UnresolvedThe question is open; evidence does not settle it.
LegendComes from myth, literature or tradition, not physical evidence.
SpeculativeA hypothesis with little direct evidence so far.

Hero image: John White's map "La Virginea Pars" (c. 1585), British Museum; a patch on it was studied in 2012 in the search for the Lost Colony. Image: John White · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons. Evidence labels describe the written claims, not the image. Version 1 · updated 2026-10-22.