Roanoke Island Festival Park Adventure Museum

The Roanoke Adventure Museum is the indoor half of Roanoke Island Festival Park, the state historic site on Manteo's waterfront across Shallowbag Bay from downtown. While the park's reconstructed sailing ship and outdoor settlement area put you in the open air, this museum gathers the island's history under one roof, moving through roughly four centuries in a single stop.

What's Inside

The exhibits move roughly chronologically, from the sound's original Native peoples through the English colonization attempts of the 1580s — the settlement that vanished without a confirmed explanation, still one of American history's genuine open questions — and on to the Civil War-era Freedmen's Colony, one of the first self-governing communities of formerly enslaved people in the South. Later sections carry the story into the 20th century, including the island's role during World War II.

Planning a Visit

• Open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Closed Sunday and Monday
• Pair it with the park's Elizabeth II ship replica and outdoor Settlement Site for a fuller picture of the island's story