Wright Brothers National Memorial

Wright Brothers National Memorial is a protected area in the Kill Devil Hills in Dare County. The memorial commemorates the first sustained, heavier-than-air powered flights by Orville and Wilbur Wright. The Wright Brothers came to Kitty Hawk from Dayton, Ohio from 1900 to 1903 to test their flying machines. They chose the Outer Banks due to the favorable winds to provide lift and the sand to soften their landing. Moreover, the Outer Banks at the time were sparsely populated and so the isolation provided privacy for their work. On December 17, 1903, the brothers conducted four successful flights and spawned the birth of aviation. Kill Devil Hill Monument National Memorial was established in 1927. The 60-foot monument atop Kill Devil Hill was completed in 1932 and the site was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service in 1933. In 1953, it was renamed Wright Brothers National Memorial in honor of their innovation and perseverance in conquering the skies.

Map:

Points of Interest:

Flight Line:

The Flight Line shows the path taken on the first four flights in December 1903. The first flight boulder is the spot where all the flights took off from. Rocks are located at the distance that each of the flights made it.

Wright Brothers Monument:

The 60-foot granite monument atop Big Kill Devil Hill was completed in 1932. Starting in 1929, workers planted grass on the hill to stabilize it in preparation for constructing the monument.

Wildlife:

Trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans)

Blog Entries:

03-Jul-2019: Outer Banks National Parks

External Links:

National Parks Service website: https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/index.htm