A beginning chapter in the story of America is kept on the north end of Roanoke Island at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, the place of England's first colonization efforts. Sir Walter Raleigh's explorers and colonists established settlements in this area in 1585 and 1587. The site is home to the nation's longest running outdoor symphonic drama The Lost Colony, staged during the summer at the park's Waterside Theatre. Also within the site is The Elizabethan Gardens, a year-round living memorial to England's first colonists.