It was named after the historical Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English colonization.

The island has recreational and water features, plus historical sites and an outdoor theater that form one of the major tourist attractions of Dare County.

John Smith, an English explorer and one of the first governors of Jamestown, Virginia, recorded the usage of the word Rawrenock in the Algonquin Powhowaten language.

[7] Archaeological discoveries at the Tillett site in Wanchese, North Carolina, have dated the human occupation of Roanoke Island's land to 8,000 B.C.

The sand dune of Roanoke became disconnected from the mainland by water, and inlets in the Outer Banks turned freshwater sounds (lagoons) into brackish ecosystems.

After the year 800 AD, the village was occupied by the Colington Culture, a predecessor to the historic Roanoke tribe, who were encountered by the 1584 English Expedition.

[7] English maps and written accounts attest to other indigenous villages on Roanoke Island prior to European contact.

Englishman Arthur Barlowe described a palisaded town with nine houses made of cedar bark on the far north end of Roanoke Island.

All Roanoke Island villages were likely outlying tributaries of the Secotan's capital, Dasamonguepeuk, located on the western shore of the Croatan Sound on the modern-day mainland of Dare County.

English Scientist Thomas Harriot recorded the sense of awe with which the Native Americans viewed European technology: Many things they sawe with us ... as mathematical instruments, sea compasses ... [and] spring clocks that seemed to goe of themselves - and many other things we had - were so strange unto them, and so farre exceeded their capacities to comprehend the reason and meanes how they should be made and done, that they thought they were rather the works of gods than men.

In the book A New Voyage to Carolina (1709), the explorer John Lawson claimed that the ruins of the Lost Colony were still visible: The first Discovery and Settlement of this Country was by the Procurement of Sir Walter Raleigh, in Conjunction with some publick-spirited Gentlemen of that Age, under the Protection of Queen Elizabeth; for which Reason it was then named Virginia, being begun on that Part called Ronoak-Island, where the Ruins of a Fort are to be seen at this day, as well as some old English Coins which have been lately found; and a Brass-Gun, a Powder-Horn, and one small Quarter deck-Gun, made of Iron Staves, and hoop'd with the same Metal; which Method of making Guns might very probably be made use of in those Days, for the Convenience of Infant-Colonies.

These tell us, that several of their Ancestors were white People, and could talk in a Book, as we do; the Truth of which is confirm'd by gray Eyes being found frequently amongst these Indians, and no others.

Sand shoals on the Outer Banks and the North American continental shelf made navigation dangerous, and the lack of a deep-water harbor prevented Roanoke from becoming a major colonial port.

[19] With Roanoke Island open for settlement, English Virginians moved from Tidewater Virginia to Northeast North Carolina's Albremarle Region.

They came primarily to establish fishing communities but also practiced forms of subsistence agriculture on the Northern parts of Roanoke Island.

Roanoke Island itself was largely spared from war violence and independence for the United States had little effect on local residents.

The African slaves from the island and the mainland of North Carolina fled to the Union-occupied area with hopes of gaining freedom.

Horace James, an experienced Congregational chaplain, was appointed by the US Army in 1863 as "Superintendent for Negro Affairs in the North Carolina District."

He also was ordered to create a self-sustaining colony at Roanoke Island[28] and thought it had the potential to be a model for a new society in which African Americans would have freedom.

He established a sawmill on the island and a fisheries, and began to market the many highly skilled crafts by freed people artisans.

James believed the colony was a critical social experiment in free labor and a potential model for resettling freedmen on their own lands.

Northern missionary teachers, mostly women from New England, journeyed to the island to teach reading and writing to both children and adults, who were eager for education.

In 1865, President Andrew Johnson issued an "Amnesty Proclamation," ordering the return of property by the Union Army to former Confederate landowners.

Dare County was allocated lands which included the Mainland, Roanoke Island and the beaches from Cape Hatteras upwards towards Duck.

N.C State Senator Zebulon Vance attempted to build a monument in honor of the Colony in 1886 but was rebuffed by Congress because the bill would have distracted attention from Plymouth, Massachusetts.

At the time Manteo carried a North American styled Queen Ann architecture combined with unique elements that reflected its coastal Environment.

Around the same time, NC 345, Roanoke Island's first paved road for automobiles, was built and covered the entire extent of the land from the marshes of Wanchese to the Northend.

Manteo which had previously been a small port reliant on trade with Elizabeth City and Edenton was now connected to a wider transportation network in both the North Carolina and Virginian Tidewater regions.

Another blow was dealt in a 1933 Outer Banks Hurricane that made landfall in Hatteras before moving northwards toward Nova Scotia.

The outdoor theater play The Lost Colony written by Paul Green, began in 1936 and attracted the visit of President Franklin Roosevelt in 1937.