Indigenous
Roanoke
Virginia (VA)est. 1852pop. 98,430/ROH-uh-nohk/
The meaning
“Shell money / smoothed shells”
How it got the name
Roanoke was the Algonquian word for the polished white shell beads used as trade currency along the Atlantic coast — Europeans called it wampum's cousin. The Virginia town took the name of the river, which took it from the trade good.
Former names
- Big Lick
- Roanoke