When Colington resident Scott Dawson came upon an earth-works while exploring the dense woods on Roanoke Island some weeks ago, heart rates soared and imaginations took flight. Had someone finally found the site of Fort Raleigh?
Southeast Archaeological Center scientists from the National Park Service (NPS) combed the forest this week, with other local park service employees, and admitted they've never seen anything quite like the network of rutted trails that spread seemingly without rhyme or reason throughout the woods. However, they were skeptical that the find is 16th Century.
The historian for the NPS's Outer Banks Group, Doug Stover, said, "We think it's either Civil War era, or something linked to the Freedman's Colony, because Fort Huger was just north of this area, and the main residences of the Freedman's Colony were only a short distance south if it."
Quick! Someone with access to Google Earth get a close up!