Which English colony was found abandoned in 1590 and became known as the Lost Colony?

The English colony found abandoned in 1590 was the Roanoke Colony, remembered as the Lost Colony.

The settlement was established on Roanoke Island off the coast of present-day North Carolina. An earlier English colony arrived in 1585 but was evacuated in 1586. A second group, led by Governor John White, arrived in 1587 and included women and children, including Virginia Dare, often described as the first English child born in the New World.

White returned to England for supplies, but war with Spain delayed his return. When he reached Roanoke in August 1590, the settlement had been abandoned. The houses had been dismantled, and the word “CROATOAN” was carved into a post. White hoped this indicated that the colonists had moved to nearby Croatoan Island, but bad weather prevented a full search.

The colonists’ fate remains unresolved. They may have joined nearby Indigenous communities, moved elsewhere, or died through conflict, disease, or lack of supplies. Jamestown was founded later, in 1607, while Plymouth Colony was established in 1620.