Manteo, North Carolina
Encyclopedia
Manteo is a town in Dare County
Dare County, North Carolina
-National protected areas:* Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge * Cape Hatteras National Seashore * Fort Raleigh National Historic Site* Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge* Wright Brothers National Memorial-Demographics:...

, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, United States, located on Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County near the coast of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English exploration....

. The population was 1,052 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Dare County
Dare County, North Carolina
-National protected areas:* Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge * Cape Hatteras National Seashore * Fort Raleigh National Historic Site* Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge* Wright Brothers National Memorial-Demographics:...

.

Geography

Manteo is located at 35°54′17"N 75°40′10"W (35.904595, -75.669385), on the north central area of Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County near the coast of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English exploration....

.

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the town has a total area of 1.8 sq mi (4.7 km²), of which, 1.7 sq mi (4.4 km²) is land and 0.1 sq mi (0.258998811 km²) of it (3.35%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 1,052 people, 515 households, and 287 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 607.2 people per square mile (234.8/km2˜). There were 924 housing units at an average density of 533.3 per square mile (206.2/km2˜). The racial makeup of the town was 86.31% White, 10.08% African American, 0.57% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 1.43% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race was 2.57% of the population. Primarily Peruvians
Demographics of Peru
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Peru, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....

 and lesser numbers of Mexicans.

There were 515 households out of which 23.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.8% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.1% were non-families. 38.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.03 and the average family size was 2.64.

In the town the population was spread out with 19.8% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 87.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.5 males. For this reason, many local women wind up married to men they met elsewhere.

The median income for a household in the town was $29,803, and the median income for a family was $40,139. Males had a median income of $30,625 versus $20,833 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the town was $20,222. About 18.2% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.4% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over.

Federally, Manteo is part of North Carolina's 3rd congressional district
North Carolina's 3rd congressional district
North Carolina's 3rd congressional district is located on the Atlantic coast of North Carolina. It covers the Outer Banks and the counties adjacent to the Pamlico Sound. It also spikes inwards through Duplin, Wayne, Wilson, Nash, Craven, Carteret and Pitt counties.The district is represented by...

, represented by Republican Walt Jones
Walter B. Jones
Walter Beaman Jones, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1995. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district encompasses the Outer Banks and areas near the Pamlico Sound. Jones' father was Walter B. Jones, Sr., a Democratic Party congressman from the neighboring 1st district...

, elected in 1994.

The state's senior member of the United States Senate is Republican Richard Burr
Richard Burr
Richard Mauze Burr is the senior United States Senator from North Carolina and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, Burr represented North Carolina's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives....

, elected in 2004. The state's junior member of the United States Senate is Democrat Kay Hagan, elected in 2008. The Governor of North Carolina is Democrat Beverly Perdue, elected in 2008.

History

The town is named for a Native American named Manteo
Manteo (Croatan)
Manteo was a Native American Croatan Indian, the chief of a local tribe that befriended the English explorers that landed at Roanoke Island in 1584. In 1585 the English returned to Roanoke, arriving too late in the year to plant crops and harvest food, and Manteo helped the colonists to make it...

, who was of the Croatans tribe of American Indians. Manteo had been "civilized" by the English during a trip to London in 1584 where he and another native, Wanchese, learned to become the liaison between the Roanoke Colony
Roanoke Colony
The Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in Dare County, present-day North Carolina, United States was a late 16th-century attempt to establish a permanent English settlement in what later became the Virginia Colony. The enterprise was financed and organized by Sir Walter Raleigh and carried out by...

 settlers and the Indians, and had favorable interaction with British colonist John White
John White (surveyor)
John White was an English artist, and an early pioneer of English efforts to settle the New World. He was among those who sailed with Richard Grenville to North Carolina in 1585, acting as artist and mapmaker to the expedition. During his time at Roanoke Island he made a number of watercolor...

. In fact, Manteo was christened and given the name Lord of Roanoke, making him the first Native American to receive a title of nobility. Eventually, John White's daughter Eleanor married Ananias Dare, and they had the first American born English child, Virginia Dare
Virginia Dare
Virginia Dare was the first child born in the Americas to English parents, Eleanor and Ananias Dare. She was born into the short-lived Roanoke Colony in what is now North Carolina, USA. What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains a mystery...

. In 1587, Manteo was friendly to White when he returned to find what the final stage of the Roanoke Colony
Roanoke Colony
The Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in Dare County, present-day North Carolina, United States was a late 16th-century attempt to establish a permanent English settlement in what later became the Virginia Colony. The enterprise was financed and organized by Sir Walter Raleigh and carried out by...

 became. When the colonists disappeared after supplies from England were delayed for three years, the ongoing mystery of "The Lost Colony" began.

The "Lost" colony was established by Richard Grenville, who brought back two native Indians, one of them Manteo. Manteo was named the seat of government for Dare County in 1870, and was incorporated in 1899.

Manteo's most famous resident is the actor Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...

, who lives with his wife Cindi on a secluded compound on the northeastern shore of Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County near the coast of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English exploration....

 about one mile north of the actual city limits.

Dare County
Dare County, North Carolina
-National protected areas:* Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge * Cape Hatteras National Seashore * Fort Raleigh National Historic Site* Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge* Wright Brothers National Memorial-Demographics:...

 is named for Virginia Dare
Virginia Dare
Virginia Dare was the first child born in the Americas to English parents, Eleanor and Ananias Dare. She was born into the short-lived Roanoke Colony in what is now North Carolina, USA. What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains a mystery...

.

In 1999, North Carolina public radio (NPR), WUNC
North Carolina Public Radio
North Carolina Public Radio is a public radio network based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and operated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It broadcasts NPR, American Public Media, Public Radio International, and BBC programming in an "all-news-and-information" format...

, began broadcasting in Manteo as part of an effort to bring public radio to one of the largest areas on the East Coast without such service.

In 2005, Manteo restored its coastal warning display tower
Coastal warning display tower
A coastal warning display tower, sometimes known as a storm warning tower, was a special kind of skeletal tower designed to provide hurricane warnings. The towers were developed in 1898 on the orders of President William McKinley....

, and it is now operated by the Manteo branch of the North Carolina Maritime Museum
North Carolina Maritime Museum
The North Carolina Maritime Museum is a divisional museum of the North Carolina Museum of History. There are several branches of the Maritime Museum located in Beaufort, Southport and Roanoke Island.-North Carolina Maritime Museum at Beaufort:...

.

Twinning

The town claims it is twinned with Bideford
Bideford
Bideford is a small port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is also the main town of the Torridge local government district.-History:...

, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

 in England. In October 2006 resident David Riley traveled to Bideford to mark the 20-year link between the two towns. Bideford town clerk George McLauchlan, told him locals had never heard of Manteo and the only town Bideford was twinned with was Landivisiau
Landivisiau
Landivisiau is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.-International relations:It is twinned with Bideford in the southwest of the United Kingdom.-Population:...

 in France. Mr. Riley handed over a clock to celebrate the twenty year link, while Manteo town manager Kermit Skinner said the link started in the 1980s during the 400th anniversary of Walter Raleigh
Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....

’s voyages to America. As the story hit national news in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, further investigation revealed a link was established between the communities in 1981 when the mayor of Manteo, John Wilson, met with the mayor of Bideford, Pam Paddon, although it was recorded as friendly rather than formal twinning in Bideford. In April 2008 members of Bideford's town council visited Manteo in preparation to formalize the twinning in 2009.

Manteo has been twinned with Youghal
Youghal
Youghal is a town in County Cork, Ireland. Sitting on the estuary of the River Blackwater, in the past it was militarily and economically important. Being built on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a distinctive long and narrow layout...

, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

since July 4, 2006.

Festivals and events

Dare Day — An annual celebration for the people of Dare County. The festival is free and open to all residents and visitors. There is a variety of entertainment, food, and shopping with all activities in walking distance. This festival is held on the first Saturday of June.

Independence Day — Every year on July 4 Manteo holds an Independence Day celebration. During the day there are an array of contests, games, and tournaments, and in the evening a fireworks display.

The New World Festival of the Arts — Held on the Manteo waterfront a great exhibition that features over 80 selected artists displaying and selling their work. It is a two-day outdoor art show that has been held for over 23 years running.

External links

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