North Carolina–Virginia State Line
Suffolk, Suffolk, Virginia
Marker Inscription
North Carolina Virginia. NORTH CAROLINA / Colonized, 1585-87, by first English settlers in America; permanently settled c. 1650; first to vote readiness for independence, Apr. 12, 1775 b/w VIRGINIA / First permanent English colony in America, 1607; one of thirteen original states. Richmond, the capital, was seat of Confederate government.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
This boundary marker stands where two of America's foundational colonies meet, each summarizing its origin story on stone. Virginia points to Jamestown in 1607, the first permanent English colony, while North Carolina reaches back to the ill-fated 1585–87 Roanoke ventures before its own permanent settlement around 1650. The marker also notes North Carolina's Halifax Resolves of April 1775, when it became the first colony to formally authorize its delegates to vote for independence.
Why it matters
Side by side, these two inscriptions trace the arc of English America from its first fragile footholds to the birth of a nation, marking ground where the Republic's earliest chapters began.
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Related events
- · Halifax Resolves
- · Founding of Jamestown
Themes & tags
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