Gary Grassl

The Search for the First English Settlement in America: America's First Science Center Gary Grassl

About the Book This book describes the first attempt by the English to gain a foothold in today's United States, 22 years before Jamestown, Virginia. These Elizabethans investigated the natural resources of Virginia and North Carolina. Their positive findings encouraged the English to try again at Jamestown. American technology began in 1585 with a make-shift assay furnace in an unlikely spot-a small island inside the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This book describes what the noted archaeologist Ivor Noël Hume calls "America' First Science Center." But this name belies the humble birth of our technology in a small shed formed of horizontal logs. The area of technological activity has been pin pointed by archaeologists. However, the location on Roanoke Island of the First English Settlement in America is still disputed. According to government historians, it was located at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. However, this volume casts doubt on the official line: "In this book, The Search for the First English Settlement in America, Historian Gary Grassl re-examines the evidence both archaeologically and documentary and puts forth a convincing argument that at the Fort Raleigh site seeing should not be believing. In so doing, he makes a major contribution to the annals of Roanoke Island. At the same time, he addresses the still vexing question of where to look for the archaeological footprints left by both the first and second colonizing efforts." These are the words of Noel Hume, America's foremost authority on early English colonization. This book reads like a mystery novel, and the readers is encouraged to play historical detective. The author examines clues on the ground and in ancient documents. He offers evidence--pro and con. But the challenge for the reader lies in reaching his own conclusions about some intriguing mysteries at the beginning of our country.