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Population: 613 Located in Washington County
More than 400 years of European heritage began here when Robert Lane, Governor of Sir Walter Raleigh's first English colony at Roanoke Island, explored the interior of the "Goodliest Land" and stepped ashore upon what is now Washington County, North Carolina, in the year 1584, pre-dating Jamestown, Virginia, by 23 years.
Originally, the Roanoke River and the area were named after the Moratucke Native American tribe that lived here when the colonists arrived, and the name was used interchangeably through the 1700s A full-scale replica of the 1866 Roanoke River Lighthouse, which stood near the mouth of the Roanoke in Albemarle Sound, and a Mariner's Museum of historic wooden boats, were constructed in 2003 in another riverfront park on the opposite end of Water Street along the Roanoke River.
Downtown Plymouth features free riverfront parks, boardwalks, fishing piers, and boat launch sites. Most of the buildings in downtown Plymouth have changed hands in the past year or two, and a major revitalization is ongoing, with new restaurants and other businesses opening. Pettigrew State Park in the middle of Washington County includes the freshwater, 16,000-acre Lake Phelps (average depth: 4.5 feet, maximum depth: 9 feet), and family camping, picnic shelters, fishing and nature trails among some of the State's largest trees. Lake Phelps is North Carolina's second largest natural lake.
Roper itself is a small, rural area, known more for its horse farms, and equestrian trails, than for nightlife and the lights of the big city! With the rolling hills, the mild climate, and a great location, Roper is any outdoor lover's paradise. And being only a few miles from Plymouth and the coast line has not hurt Roper at all either!
Homes tend to run a little higher than the county average, mostly because the homes are built on farm size lots. Many homesteads are sold as horse farms, and include the stables and grazing land, pushing the price of the property up. So, depending on the size of the lot, you can spend a few hundred thousand, or a couple of million.
Roper is small, but offers a world away from the busy hubbub of the East Coast. It is like a hidden treasure just waiting to be found; commuting is easy and yet you're in the middle of nowhere when returning home from the "big city."
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