Spanish attempts to settle the interior, with several forts built by the Jose Pardo expedition in the 1560s, ended when the Indians destroyed the forts and killed most of the garrisons. Nearly two decades later, English colonists began to settle the coastal areas, starting with a charter in 1584. Sir Walter Raleigh (namesake of the city of Raleigh) began two small settlements in the late 1580s, but they failed. Some mystery remains as to what happened to the "Lost Colony '' of Roanoke Island, but most historians think a resupply ship was delayed. By 1640 some growth took place with colonists migrating from Virginia, who moved into the area of Albemarle Sound. In 1663 the king granted a charter for a new colony named Carolina in honor of his father Charles I. He gave ownership to the Lords Proprietors.
who founded the first colony in north carolina
Lords Proprietors