Between mainland North Carolina and the narrow stretch of barrier islands we call the Outer Banks, sits a tiny island, just 12 miles long and around 3 miles wide. Dotted with rich maritime forest and bordered by brackish salt marsh on all sides, it’s home to two sleepy towns aptly named Manteo and Wanchese. This is Roanoke Island of course, of Lost Colony fame. But some 300 years later, in the mid 1800s, it was home to another colony entirely, one you’ve probably never even heard of, a colony whose population soared to just under 4,000 people in a matter of a few years. That’s more than the combined populations of Manteo and Wanchese today. This was the Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony and its history, its story, some might argue, has become even more lost than the Lost Colony itself. Let’s fix that.

Check out the Pea Island Preservation Society

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Sources:

• "Ironclads and Columbiads: The Civil War in North Carolina" by William R. Trotter (affiliate link)
• "Time Full of Trial: The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony" by Patricia C. Click (affiliate link)
• National Park Service "The Battle of Roanoke Island"
• National Park Service "Richard Etheridge"
• Wikipedia "Battle of Roanoke Island"
• National Park Service "The Freedmen's Colony on Roanoke Island"
• Wikipedia "Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island"
• roanokefreedmenscolony.com
• Letter from Richard Etheridge and William Benson
• Roanoke Island Festival Park "The Freedmen's Colony"
• National Park Service "Freedom Comes to Roanoke Island"

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