In 1584, English explorers looked for a suitable site for a settlement along the North Carolina coast. As a result, the first groups of English settlers in America built colonies on Roanoke Island off the coast in 1585 and 1587. The earlier group returned to England. The later group vanished from the island, leaving behind only a mystery that has puzzled the ages. This group has been named the Lost Colony. Virginia Dare, the first child born to English parents in America, was a member of the Lost Colony.

March 24, 1663, Charles II granted Charter of Carolina to eight men who inaugurated a fundamental constitution for Carolina in 1669.

Virginia Dare, the first English child to be born in America, was born on Roanoke Island on Aug. 18, 1587. Nothing else is known about her, because the colony into which she was born mysteriously disappeared.

The First State Governor to Be Impeached was William Woods Holden of North Carolina. He had gained a reputation for waste and corruption after two years in office. On March 22, 1871, he was removed from office by vote of the state legislature.

The First Operating Silver Mine in the United States opened in 1838 near Lexington. The mine was later named the Silver Hill Mine. It no longer operates.

The First Interstate Railroad opened in 1833 between Blakely, in Northampton County, and Petersburg, Va. The 75-mile Petersburg Railroad helped to increase tobacco trade from the Roanoke Valley into Virginia. The town of Blakely no longer exists, but the railroad still operates as part of the Seaboard System Railroad.