Roanoke River - History

History

The Roanoke River valley was the homeland of various Native Americans, mostly Virginia Siouan, such as the Occaneechi (today part of the Haliwa-Saponi) and the Tutelo. The name Roanoke is derived from rawrenok, an Algonquian word for wampum. The deadly spring floods earned it the name "River of Death". The river's lower course began to be settled by Virginians about the middle of the 17th century, in what was known as the Albemarle Settlements. The upper reaches of the Roanoke River were explored by fur trading parties sent by Abraham Wood in the late 17th century, but these were not settled by English until the early 18th century.

In 1883, the small town of Big Lick on the river was selected as a major shops and terminal point for the new Norfolk and Western Railway to meet the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. Big Lick was renamed Roanoke for the river that bisected it, as the surrounding Roanoke County had been in 1838.