Virginia Dare (born August 18, 1587, in

Roanoke Colony The establishment of the Roanoke Colony ( ) was an attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The English, led by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had briefly claimed St. John's, Newfoundland, in 15 ...

, date of death unknown) was the first English child born in a

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

English colony. What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains a mystery. The fact of her birth is known because John White, Virginia's grandfather and the governor of the colony, returned to England in 1587 to seek fresh supplies. When White eventually returned three years later, the colonists were gone. During the past four hundred years, Virginia Dare has become a prominent figure in American myth and folklore, symbolizing different things to different groups of people. She has been featured as a main character in books, poems, songs, comic books, television programs, and films. Her name has been used to sell different types of goods, from

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

products to soft drinks, as well as wine and spirits. Many places in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

and elsewhere in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

have been named in her honor.

Biography

Virginia Dare was born in the

in what is now North Carolina in August 1587, the first child of English parents born in the New World. "Elenora, daughter to the governor of the city and wife to Ananias Dare, one of the assistants, was delivered of a daughter in Roanoke". Little is known of the lives of either of her parents. Her mother

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

was born in London around 1563, and was the daughter of John White, the governor of the ill-fated Roanoke Colony. Eleanor married

Ananias Dare Ananias Dare (c. 1560 – 1587, ''legal death'') was a colonist of the Roanoke Colony of 1587. He was the husband of Eleanor White, whom he married at St Bride's Church in London, and the father of Virginia Dare, the first English child bor ...

(born c. 1560), a London

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

r and

bricklayer A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsman and tradesman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The terms also refer to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. ...

, at

St Bride's Church St Bride's Church is a church in the City of London, England. The building's most recent incarnation was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1672 in Fleet Street in the City of London, though Wren's original building was largely gutted by fire d ...

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. He, too, was part of the Roanoke expedition. Virginia Dare was one of two infants born to the colonists in 1587 and the only female child known to have been born to the settlers. Nothing else is known of Virginia Dare's life, as the Roanoke Colony did not endure. Virginia's grandfather John White sailed for England for fresh supplies at the end of 1587, having established his colony. Because England's war with Spain brought about a pressing need for ships to defend against the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...

, he was unable to return to Roanoke until August 18, 1590, by which time he found that the settlement had been long deserted. The buildings had collapsed and "the houses eretaken down". Worse, White was unable to find any trace of his daughter or granddaughter, or indeed any of the 80 men, 17 women, and 11 children who made up the "Lost Colony".

Mystery of the "Lost Colony" (Roanoke)

Nothing is known for certain of the fate of Virginia Dare or her fellow colonists. Governor White found no sign of a struggle or battle. The only clue to the colonists' fate was the word "Croatoan" carved into a post of the fort, and the letters "Cro" carved into a nearby tree. All the houses and fortifications had been dismantled, suggesting that their departure had not been hurried. Before he had left the colony, White had instructed them that, if anything happened to them, they should carve a

Maltese cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which developed f ...

on a tree nearby, indicating that their disappearance had been forced. There was no cross, and White took this to mean that they had moved to Croatoan Island (now known as

Hatteras Island Hatteras Island (historically Croatoan Island) is a barrier island located off the North Carolina coast. Dividing the Atlantic Ocean and the Pamlico Sound, it runs parallel to the coast, forming a bend at Cape Hatteras. It is part of North Carol ...

), but he was unable to conduct a search. There are a number of theories regarding the fate of the colonists, the most widely accepted one being that they sought shelter with local Indian tribes, and either intermarried with the natives or were killed. In 1607, John Smith and other members of the successful

Jamestown Colony The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement ''English Settlement'' is the fifth studio album and first double album by the English rock band XTC, released 12 February 1982 on Virgin Reco ...

sought information about the fate of the Roanoke colonists. One report indicated that the survivors had taken refuge with friendly

Chesapeake Chesapeake often refers to: *Chesapeake people, a Native American tribe also known as the Chesepian * The Chesapeake, a.k.a. Chesapeake Bay *Delmarva Peninsula, also known as the Chesapeake Peninsula Chesapeake may also refer to: Populated plac ...

Indians, but

Chief Powhatan Powhatan ( c. 1547 – c. 1618), whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh (alternately spelled Wahunsenacah, Wahunsunacock or Wahunsonacock), was the leader of the Powhatan, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans living in Tsenacommaca ...

claimed that his tribe had attacked the group and killed most of the colonists. Powhatan showed Smith certain artifacts that he said had belonged to the colonists, including a

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

barrel and a brass

mortar and pestle Mortar and pestle is a set of two simple tools used from the Stone Age to the present day to prepare ingredients or substances by crushing and grinding them into a fine paste or powder in the kitchen, laboratory, and pharmacy. The ''mortar'' () ...

. However, no archaeological evidence exists to support this claim. The Jamestown Colony received reports of some survivors of the Lost Colony and sent out search parties, but none were successful. Eventually they determined that they were all dead.

William Strachey William Strachey (4 April 1572 – buried 21 June 1621) was an English writer whose works are among the primary sources for the early history of the English colonisation of North America. He is best remembered today as the eye-witness reporter o ...

, a secretary of the Jamestown Colony, wrote in ''The History of Travel into Virginia Britannia'' in 1612 that there were reportedly two-story houses with stone walls at the Indian settlements of Peccarecanick and Ochanahoen. The Indians supposedly learned how to build them from the Roanoke settlers.Stick (1983), p. 222 There were also reported sightings of European captives at various Indian settlements during the same time period. Strachey also wrote that four English men, two boys, and one maid had been sighted at the Eno settlement of Ritanoc, under the protection of a chief called Eyanoco. The captives were forced to beat copper. The captives, he reported, had escaped the attack on the other colonists and fled up the Chaonoke river, the present-day

Chowan River The Chowan River (cho-WAHHN)
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

Bertie County, North Carolina Bertie County ( , with both syllables stressed) is a county located in the northeast area of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,934. Its county seat is Windsor. The county was created in 1722 as Berti ...

Modern legacy

Virginia Dare has become a prominent figure in American

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

in the more than four hundred years since her birth, representing different things to different people. A 2000 article in the Piedmont (North Carolina) Triad ''News and Record'' noted that she symbolizes

innocence Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack of experience. In relation ...

and

purity Purity may refer to: Books * ''Pureza'' (novel), a 1937 Brazilian novel by José Lins do Rego * ''Purity'' (novel), a 2015 novel by Jonathan Franzen ** ''Purity'' (TV series), a TV series based on the novel *''Purity'', a 2012 novel by Jackson P ...

for many Americans (particularly Southerners), "new beginnings, promise, and

hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

" as well as "adventure and

bravery Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle. Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, h ...

" in a new land. She also symbolizes mystery because of her mysterious fate.Patterson, Donald W., "Time Hasn't Diminished the Image of Virginia Dare", ''News and Record (Piedmont Triad, N.C.)'' April 23, 2000 For some residents of North Carolina, she has been an important symbol of the state and symbolizes a desire to keep it predominantly of European descent. In the 1920s, a group in

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

that opposed

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

for women feared that

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

women would get the vote, urging "that North Carolina remain

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

... in the name of Virginia Dare". Today, Virginia Dare's name serves as the inspiration for the

VDARE VDARE is an American far-right website promoting opposition to immigration to the United States. It is associated with white supremacy,Sam FrizellGOP Shows White Supremacist's Tweet During Trump's Speech Time, July 21, 2016 white nationalism, ...

website which is associated with

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

,Sam Frizell
GOP Shows White Supremacist's Tweet During Trump's Speech

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

, July 21, 2016

white nationalism White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara. ''Hate Crimes''. Greenwoo ...

,Holly Folk, ''The Religion of Chiropractic: Populist Healing from the American Heartland'' (University of North Carolina Press, 2017), p. 64: "the white nationalist website VDARE.com."Robert W. Sussman, ''The Myth of Race: The Troubling Persistence of an Unscientific Idea'' (Harvard University Press, 2014), p. 299.Kristine Phillips
Resort cancels 'white nationalist' organization's first-ever conference over the group's views
''Washington Post'' (January 26, 2017). and the

alt-right The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...

. Some see Dare as a symbol of women's rights. In the 1980s,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

s in North Carolina called for state residents to approve the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and ...

and "Honor Virginia Dare." There is a memorial to Virginia Dare in

in the

, where her parents were married prior to their journey to Roanoke. The bronze sculpture was created by Clare Waterhouse in 1999. It replaced a marble sculpture of Dare carved by Marjorie Meggit in 1957, which was stolen in 1999 and never recovered.

Eleanor Dare stones

Virginia's death and the fate of the other colonists were purportedly described in a series of inscribed stones written by Eleanor Dare and others. Most of these were later revealed to be forgeries, with the authenticity of one remaining in dispute.

1937 Roanoke commemorative coin

Roanoke colony half dollar commemorative reverse

In 1937, the United States Mint issued a half-dollar commemorative coin that depicted Virginia Dare as the first English child born in the New World. This was also the first time that a child was depicted on United States currency.

Literary and cultural references

Virginia Dare A Romance of the Sixteenth Century

Virginia Dare quickly entered into folklore as the

first white child The birth of the first white child is a concept that marks the establishment of a European colony in the New World, especially in the historiography of the United States. Americas Canada Snorri Thorfinnsson, born around 1010 in the Viking settle ...

born in British America. The fate of Virginia Dare and the Lost Colony has been the subject of many literary, film, and television adaptations, all of which have added to her

: * One of the first was Cornelia Tuthill's 1840 novel ''Virginia Dare, or the Colony of Roanoke'', in which Virginia marries a Jamestown settler. Virginia Dare met the Indian princess

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

in E.A.B. Shackleford's 1892 novel ''Virginia Dare: A Romance of the Sixteenth Century''. Virginia Dare was the main character in Sallie Southall Cotten's 1901 book in verse ''The White Doe: The Fate of Virginia Dare''. In the book, she is turned into a white doe by an Indian

witch doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor) was originally a type of Folk healer, healer who treated ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is now more commonly used to refer to Alternative medicine, healers, particularly in region ...

after she rejects his advances. When her true love, an Indian

warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

, shoots her with a silver

arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

, she turns back into a woman just before she dies in his arms. Cotten has asserted, however, that the tale of Dare as the White Doe had survived for some three centuries as part of colonial folklore.Poole, W. Scott. ''Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting''. Waco, Texas: Baylor, 2011), p. 35. . In the 1908 novel ''The Daughter of Virginia Dare'', author Mary Virginia Wall made

the daughter of Virginia Dare. In Herbert Bouldin Hawes' 1930 novel ''The Daughter of the Blood'', Virginia Dare is involved in a romantic triangle with John Smith and Pocahontas. * Neil Gaiman has extended this story in his comic book series ''

1602 Events January–June * January 3 – Battle of Kinsale: The English defeat Irish rebels and their Spanish allies. (The battle happens on this date according to the Gregorian calendar used by the Irish and Spanish but on Thursday, 24 Dec ...

'', where a Native American named Rojhaz meets Virginia Dare when she is about twelve, and an artifact of his travels causes her to transform into a series of white creatures whenever she is in danger. The storyline ends when

Peter Parquagh " Spider-Man" is the name of multiple comic book superheroes from the Marvel Comics Multiverse. The original and most well known is Peter Parker created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko originating from the Earth-616 universe. Within the mainstre ...

and Virginia Dare head home to her father to plot the rescue of those left in England. In later stories in the ''1602'' universe (much like the figure of legend), when attempting to flee in the form of a white doe, she is shot by Master Norman Osborne and reverts to human form in front of Peter before dying. * Other authors have given the myth a fantasy twist. In Margaret Peterson Haddix's novel "Sabotaged", a girl finds out that she herself is actually Virginia Dare. In

Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for his sequences of novels, especially the ''World of Tiers ...

's 1965 novel ''Dare'', Virginia and the other Lost Colonists are abducted by

aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...

and settled on a planet called Dare. In 1969, Steve Cannon wrote ''Groove, Bang and Jive Around'', in which Virginia Dare is one of two stewardesses aboard the Statecraft One who engages in a wild orgy with Annette, the foxy adolescent girl from

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, and Estavanico, "Little Stevie" to some, the

flight engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is the member of an aircraft's flight crew who monitors and operates its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referred to as the "air me ...

. Near the end, in the land of Oobladee, she is eventually magically transformed into a frail, old woman with a cane, who explains the reasons for which she was left to explore much darker horizons, sexually. Ultimately, she falls to the floor as a pile of ashes. Virginia Dare appears in

Mark Chadbourn Mark Chadbourn is an English fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, and horror author with more than a dozen novels (and one non-fiction book) published around the world. Born in the English Midlands from a long line of coal miners. he g ...

's fantasy trilogy Kingdom of the Serpent, comprising the novels ''Jack of Ravens'', ''The Burning Man'', and ''Destroyer of Worlds''. She is kidnapped along with the other Roanoke colonists and taken to the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Otherworld The concept of an otherworld in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other Earth/world"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherworld ...

, the home of all myth and legend. She plays a key role in the final volume of the trilogy. A woman named Virginia Dare appears in

Gregory Keyes Gregory Keyes (born April 11, 1963) is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy who has written both original and media-related novels under both the names J. Gregory Keyes and Greg Keyes. Early life Keyes was born in Meridian, Mississi ...

' fantasy novel ''The Briar King''. Keyes uses several hints and word clues to indicate this character is meant to be the historical figure. In Volume I of ''

Tales of the Slayer ''Tales of the Slayer'' are volumes containing prose short stories. Four volumes of this series have been released, all published by Pocket Books. Each contains a number of short stories surrounding the mythology of past Slayers. Tales within ...

'', a horror story collection set in the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' universe, Virginia Dare appears as the vampire slayer "White Doe", an English girl adopted by the

Croatoan Croatoan may refer to: * Croatoan Island (now ''Hatteras Island'') on the Outer Banks of North Carolina * Croatan tribe, alternately spelled "Croatoan" *The word "Croatoan", found carved into a tree on Roanoke Island at the site of the Lost Colony ...

Indians. She is turned into a white doe by a wizard of the tribe when she rejects his advances. Her true love, Seal of the Ocean, finds her but later kills her because he does not recognize her as a deer. * Dare is the main villain in the short-lived television show ''

FreakyLinks ''FreakyLinks'' is an American science fiction series that combined elements of horror, mystery, and comedy. It aired on Fox from October 2000 until June 2001, for a total run of 13 episodes. The feel of the show closely modeled that of ''The X ...

''. Inspired by ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'' and ''

The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez (director), Eduardo Sánchez. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—Heather Donahue, Mic ...

'', it follows a young man who takes over his twin brother's paranormal website, ''Freakylinks'', after his death. It is later found that his brother's death was related to his investigations into the lost colony of Roanoke. It is implied that Virginia Dare was a demon who destroyed the colonists, either directly or indirectly. However, the show was canceled before the end of the first season, and the mystery was never resolved. * In the 2007 made-for-TV movie on the

SciFi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. La ...

, ''Wraiths of Roanoke'', Virginia Dare is the sole survivor after the colony is wiped out by Old Norse ghosts, or wraiths, who had died on the island centuries earlier but failed to achieve transit to Valhalla. In the movie the infant Virginia, whose innocence is needed by the wraiths, is used by her father to lure the wraiths onto a flaming raft set adrift for a Viking funeral. The last act of Ananias is to cast Virginia away from the raft in a wicker basket. She is found and adopted by the mainland Indians the next day. * In '' The Necromancer'', the fourth book in Michael Scott's " Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel" series, Virginia Dare was introduced as an immortal who disables her enemies with charms from a magic flute. It is later revealed in the story that her father is the one who carved the word "Croatoan" onto the fence post and part of the tree. * In ''

Sabotaged ''The Missing'' is a series of young adult fiction, fictional young-adult novels written by Margaret Peterson Haddix. It tells the story of famous children from history stolen by futuristic time travelers from their place in time and accidental ...

'', the third book of the "Missing Series" by

Margaret Peterson Haddix Margaret Peterson Haddix (born April 9, 1964) is an American writer known best for the two children's series, ''Shadow Children'' (1998–2006) and ''The Missing'' (2008–2015). She also wrote the tenth volume in the multiple-author series '' ...

, Virginia Dare is a missing child from history who had been kidnapped by one of the evil villains when she was a child, but then accidentally landed in the twenty-first century. The main characters, Jonah and Katherine, are sent back into time, again, to return her to the colony. However Andrea (also called Virginia) is tricked by a mysterious character named Second to sabotage the mission. The book takes place in

Roanoke Island Roanoke Island () is an island in Dare County, North Carolina, Dare County, bordered by the Outer Banks of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke (tribe), Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the ar ...

and they eventually travel to

Croatoan Island Hatteras Island (historically Croatoan Island) is a barrier island located off the North Carolina coast. Dividing the Atlantic Ocean and the Pamlico Sound Pamlico Sound ( ) is a lagoon in North Carolina which is the largest lagoon along the N ...

. * In the 2011 faux-

Southern Gothic Southern Gothic is an artistic subgenre of fiction, country music, film and television that are heavily influenced by Gothic elements and the American South. Common themes of Southern Gothic include storytelling of deeply flawed, disturbing or ...

show ''

The Heart, She Holler ''The Heart, She Holler'' is an American horror comedy television series created by Vernon Chatman and John Lee for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The series premiered on November 6, 2011 and ended on December 11, 201 ...

'' the town matriarch, commonly referred to as "Meemaw", is named Virginia Dare. In Season 3 it is confirmed that she is the actual Virginia Dare, "the first white person born on this continent". Her birth so offended the gods of the indigenous peoples that she was "cursed" with immortality and various psychic powers including but not limited to

telekinesis Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...

extrasensory perception Extrasensory perception or ESP, also called sixth sense, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke Universi ...

, and unexplained reality bending powers. * She is a character in the novel ''The Last American Vampire'' written by Seth Grahame-Smith. * She is mentioned in the '' Sleepy Hollow

season 1 Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) * Season 4 (disambiguat ...

'' episode John Doe, which features the lost Roanoake colony.

Tourism and advertising

Virginia Dare's name has become a

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural b ...

for North Carolina. Many locations are named after her, including

Dare County, North Carolina Dare County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,915. Its county seat is Manteo. Dare County is named after Virginia Dare, the first child born in the Americas to English p ...

; the Virginia Dare Trail, a section of

NC 12 North Carolina Highway 12 (NC 12) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina, linking the peninsulas and islands of the northern Outer Banks. Most sections of NC 12 are two lanes wide, and there are also two ...

; Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge, the second, newest, and widest bridge spanning the

Croatan Sound Croatan Sound is an inlet in Dare County, North Carolina. It connects Pamlico Sound with Albemarle Sound, and is bordered to the east by Roanoke Island; Roanoke Sound is on the other side of the island. Its name comes from the Croatan Indians who ...

connecting

to Manns Harbor, carrying

US 64 U.S. Route 64 (US 64) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,326 miles (3,743 km) from Nags Head in eastern North Carolina to just southwest of the Four Corners in northeast Arizona. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 1 ...

. Residents of

celebrate Virginia Dare's birthday each year with an

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

Renaissance fair A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire or Renaissance festival is an outdoor gathering open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which purportedly recreates a historical setting for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent the ...

. A statue of Virginia as a grown woman, nude and wrapped in a fishnet, is on display in the Elizabethan Gardens on the island. At

Smith Mountain Lake Smith Mountain Lake is a large reservoir in the Roanoke Region of Virginia, United States, located southeast of the City of Roanoke and southwest of Lynchburg. The lake was created in 1963 by the Smith Mountain Dam impounding the Roanoke River. ...

, a reservoir in Virginia created by damming the

Roanoke River The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the App ...

, there is an active

tour boat A tour boat is a boat used, and frequently purpose-built or adapted, for boat tours, a type of tourism frequently offered in much visited towns and cities of historic interest, that have canals or a river running through it, or that lie on a co ...

named Virginia Dare. Virginia Dare's name has also been used to sell a number of products. Virginia Dare was the name of the first commercial wine to sell after the repeal of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

in 1933. The Virginia Dare Extract Company, a maker of vanilla products, sells its products with a symbol of Virginia as a fresh-faced, blonde girl wearing a white ruffled

mob cap A mobcap (or mob cap or mob-cap) is a round, gathered or pleated cloth (usually linen) bonnet consisting of a caul to cover the hair, a frilled or ruffled brim, and (often) a ribbon band, worn by married women in the 18th and early 19th centurie ...

. The company's Web site notes that Virginia Dare symbolizes "wholesomeness and purity". In

Rancho Cucamonga, California Rancho Cucamonga ( ) is a city located just south of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest in San Bernardino County, California, United States. About east of Downtown Los Angeles, Rancho Cucamonga is the 28th ...

, a now-defunct winery called Virginia Dare is on the corner of Haven Avenue and Foothill Boulevard (

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

Ships named after her

* SS Virginia Dare was a

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

built in the United States during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. *

Schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

Virginia Dare, 89.41 tons, built in 1883 in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and owned by ''Pool, Gardner & Co.'' of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

.The Virginia Dare
''Out of Gloucester'' *

Steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

Virginia Dare, which was grounded on an offshore sandbar at

Galveston Island Galveston Island ( ) is a barrier island on the Texas Gulf Coast in the United States, about southeast of Houston. The entire island, with the exception of Jamaica Beach, is within the city limits of the City of Galveston in Galveston County. T ...

during 1871 Atlantic hurricane season.

Notes

References

* Miller, Lee, ''Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony'' (2000), Penguin Books, * Milton, Giles, ''Big Chief Elizabeth – How England's Adventurers Gambled and Won the New World'', Hodder & Stoughton, London (2000) * Morgan, Dewi, ''Phoenix of Fleet St – 2,000 years of St Bride's'', Charles Knight & Co., London (1973), * Stick, David, ''Roanoake Island: The Beginnings of English America'' (1983), University of North Carolina Press, * Tucker, Abigail
"Sketching the Earliest Views of the New World"
''Smithsonian'' magazine, December 2008 * White, Robert W., ''A Witness For Eleanor Dare'' (1992), Lexikos, * Scott, Michael. The Necromancer. New York: Delacorte, 2010

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070807202857/http://www.lost-colony.com/ Lost Colony Center for Science and Research
Searching for the Lost Colony Blog

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20081021035947/http://www.coastalguide.com/packet/lostcolony01.htm Virginia Dare and The Lost Colony
Webpage discussing authenticity of the Virginia Dare Stones

November 22, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dare, Virginia 1587 births 1590s missing person cases 16th-century English women American folklore Missing person cases in North Carolina People of the Roanoke Colony Virginia colonial people Year of death unknown