Manteo, North Carolina

Manteo sits on Roanoke Island between the Outer Banks beaches and the Dare County mainland, reached by the Washington Baum Bridge from Nags Head or the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge from Manns Harbor. Incorporated in 1899 and named for the Native American leader who guided Sir Walter Raleigh's colonists, it's the only county seat in North Carolina located on an island, and the historic and civic heart of the Outer Banks rather than a beach town in the usual sense.

Fort Raleigh and the Lost Colony

A few miles north of downtown, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site marks where English colonists first attempted to settle in 1585 and again in 1587 — the ill-fated Roanoke Colony that vanished without explanation sometime after 1587, leaving behind only the word "CROATOAN" carved into a post. The outdoor drama "The Lost Colony" has told the story in a waterside amphitheater on the site every summer since 1937.

A Restored Waterfront Downtown

Manteo's small downtown waterfront was deliberately revitalized around the 400th anniversary of the Roanoke voyages in 1984-85, centered on the Elizabeth II, a full-scale representation of a 16th-century sailing ship berthed at Roanoke Island Festival Park. Shops, inns, and restaurants line the harbor walk today, a quieter and more historic counterpart to the beach towns just across the sound.

A Base for History, Not Surf

Manteo works well as a base for visitors more interested in Outer Banks history and the North Carolina Aquarium (just across the causeway) than in oceanfront access — the nearest ocean beach is a 15-20 minute drive east.