| North Carolina (Dare County), Buxton — B32 — Billy Mitchell |
| | Brigadier general of the Army Air Service, demonstrated air power by bombing battleships off coast, Sept. 5, 1923. Landing field was here. — Map (db m20347) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Buxton — B-54 — Cape Hatteras Lighthouse — ··· |
| | Tallest brick lighthouse
in nation at 208 feet.
Constructed, 1869~1870,
to mark Diamond Shoals.
Replaced 1802 structure. — Map (db m11397) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Buxton — B-41 — Diamond Shoals — ··· |
| | "Graveyard of Atlantic."
German submarines sank
over 100 ships here, 1941~
42, in the "Battle of
Torpedo Junction."
Shoals are 3 mi. south. — Map (db m11400) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Buxton — B-53 — Radio Milestone — ··· |
| | From near here in 1902
R. A. Fessenden sent the
first musical notes ever
relayed by radio waves.
Received 48 miles north. — Map (db m11402) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Buxton — B-50 — U.S.S. Monitor — ··· |
| | Fought C.S.S. "Virginia"
("Merrimac") in first
battle of ironclad ships.
Lost Dec. 31, 1862, in
gale 17 miles southeast.
First marine sanctuary. — Map (db m11401) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Frisco — Mitchell Demonstrates Air Power |
| | In September 1923, Brigadier General Mitchell provided a chilling view of the effectiveness of aerial bombardment on surface vessels to skeptical government and military observers. Taking off from his temporary Hatteras Village airfield, Mitchell rendezvoused with Martin Bombers from Langley Field, Virginia. Equipped with newly developed bombsights and supercharged engines, the bombers quickly sank the obsolete battleships "Virginia" and "New Jersey" anchored just 20 miles off the Hatteras . . . — Map (db m20353) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — 12 Seconds that Changed the World |
| | After more than four years of hard work and experimentation, it only took the Wright brothers 12 seconds to change the world. On December 17, 1903, at 10:35, Orville Wright made the world’s first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight.
The photograph that documented the Wrights’ success was taken by John T. Daniels, a Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station surfman, who had never used a camera before. It was not until the Wright brothers returned to Dayton, Ohio, that they developed the . . . — Map (db m10181) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — A hospitable people... |
| | If you decide to try your machine here...you will find a hospitable people...
William J. Tate, Kitty Hawk Postmaster, in a letter to Wilbur Wright dated August 18, 1900
Wilbur and Orville Wright accepted Tate’s invitation and found that the Outer Banks of North Carolina not only provided hospitable people but also the conditions that they needed to fly – wind, sand, and solitude. While solitude was important to get the work done, the Wrights did not work . . . — Map (db m10183) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — Big Kill Devil Hill — 26 Acres of Shifting Sand |
| | Before construction of the memorial could begin, it would be necessary to stabilize the dune from which the Wright Brothers conducted their glider experiments. Twenty-five years of steady winds had moved Big Kill Devil Hill 450 feet southwest of its 1903 location. The U.S. Army Engineers, using exotic and native grasses and a covering of wood mold, succeeded in stabilizing the "shifting" dune. The Hill stands still now - supporting a monument to man's greatest dream. — Map (db m9768) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — Dare County's Tribute to Veterans |
| | [Center Panel]:
“By your courage in tribulation, by your cheerfulness before the dirty devices of this world, you have won the love of those who have watched you.”
- Guy Chapman
Dedicated: November 11, 1991.
[Left Panel]:
To all who’ve stood tall for freedom
Those of us
who’ve never served
can’t truly understand
the sacrifices that you made
protecting life and land.
You were called from homes and jobs.
You never turned around.
You did more . . . — Map (db m9631) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — Experiments |
| | On the slope of Kill Devil Hill to the left, the Wright brothers experimented with gliders in the period 1900 - 1903.
Here also Wilbur Wright failed in an attempted power-driven flihgt, December 14, 1903. After just 3½ seconds in the air the Wrights' flying machine stalled and settled to the ground.
Two days were needed for repairs. Then the stage was set for the successful flight of December 17. — Map (db m10179) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — Field for Flight |
| | "Isn't it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved for so many years just so that we could discover them!!"
Orville Wright, June 7, 1903 — Map (db m9770) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — Four Powered Flights |
| | The Wright brothers made four successful sustained powered flights the morning of December 17, 1903. The commemorative granite boulder and replica monorail mark the lift-off point of those four flights, the numbered markers the terminating point.
Since soft sand prohibited launching with conventional wheels, the Wright Flyer was placed on a 60-foot monorail with its landing skids resting on a wheeled truck.
Once the engine started, the Flyer was released and slid down the rail until . . . — Map (db m9769) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — Kill Devil Hills |
| | "...the sand fairly blinds us. It blows across the ground in clouds. We certainly can't complain of the place. We came down here for wind and sand, and we got them."
Letter from Orville Wright to Katharine Wright, October 18, 1900
"The practice ground at the Kill Devil Hills consists of a level plain of bare sand, from which rises a group of detached hills or mounds formed of sand heaped up by the winds. These hills are constantly changing in height and slope, . . . — Map (db m10146) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — Kill Devil Hills Fire Rescue Memorial |
| | This memorial is placed in tribute and to honor all of the Kill Devil Hills fire and rescue personnel who have and continue to faithfully and honorably serve the citizens and visitors of Kill Devil Hills
Dedicated this 11 day of September 2002 — Map (db m9595) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — Monument to the Impossible |
| | The Best Design
Design competition among 35 entrants was won by Rogers and Poor, a New York Architectural firm.
The 60-foot tower, similar to those used to mark courses in air races, embellished with wings on its side and a five-point star serving as the base, was to symbolize man’s conquest of the air.
No Simple Task
Designed with paper and pencil, it became an entirely different matter to carve 80 tons of solid granite. Using hand and pneumatic tools, the Mount Airy . . . — Map (db m9715) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — Pitch, Roll and Yaw |
| | At the turn of the century, this large hill and the three hills surrounding it were known as the Kill Devil Hills. Wilbur and Orville Wright performed thousands of experimental glider flights here between 1900 and 1903. The culminatino of those tests, a glider performing a simple turn, unlocked the secrets of controlled flight. With this flight, the three axes of control were mastered and the age of aviation was at hand. — Map (db m9767) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — The 1901 Glider |
| | "Our first experiments were rather disappointing. The machine ... at times seemed to be entirely beyond control."
Orville Wright in a letter to his sister Katharine, July 28, 1901
The 1901 experiments at Kill Devil Hills were considered a failure. Orville later recalled Wilbur, on the trip back home to Dayton, stating in frustration, "Not within a thousand years would man ever fly!" — Map (db m10149) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — The 1902 Glider |
| | "Our new machine is a very great improvement over anything we had built before and over anything any one has built."
Letter from Wilbur Wright to his father, October 2, 1902
The Wrights' experiments with the successful 1902 Glider solved most of the problems in achieving stability, lift and control, and set the course for the 1903 first powered flight. Their basic paten was on the control mechanisms of this glider. — Map (db m10150) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — The 1903 Flyer |
| | "A couple of small boys, who had come with the men from the station, made a hurried departure over the hill for home on hearing the engine start."
Orville Wright, diary D. December 14, 1903
Determined to achieve powered flight before returning to Dayton, the Wright brothers focused on the assembly of the Flyer. A cracked propeller shaft, constant repairs to the machine, and lack of winds delayed their trials at powered flight. — Map (db m10151) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — The Conquest of the Air |
| | In commemoration of the conquest of the air…
Excerpt from the inscription on the monument atop Big Kill Devil Hill
From its establishment as a national monument in 1927 to the First Flight Centennial of 2003, the local people of the Outer Banks have shown “dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith” in honoring and recognizing the first flight of the Wright brothers.
The Kill Devil Hills Memorial Association, later to become the First Flight . . . — Map (db m10185) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — The First Flight |
| | "The flight lasted only 12 seconds, but nevertheless the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own poer into full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed, and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it had started."
Orville Wright, 1903
The first flight, December 17, 1903, 10:35 a.m., 120 feet in 12 seconds. Orville Wright is at the controls, lying prone on the lower wing.
Running alongside to . . . — Map (db m9771) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — The First Successful Flight of an Airplane |
| | was made from this spot by
Orville Wright
December 17, 1903, in a machine designed and built by
Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright
This tablet was erected by the
National Aeronautic Association
of the U.S.A. December 17, 1928
to commemmorate the twenty-fifth
anniversary of this event — Map (db m9745) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — B-4 — Wright Brothers |
| | On December 17, 1093, from site near foot of Kill Devil Hill, Orville and Wilbur Wright made first successful powered flight 1/5 mile west. — Map (db m9714) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kill Devil Hills — Wright Brothers National Memorial |
| | Wilbur Wright Orville Wright
In commemoration of the conquest of the air by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright. Conceived by Genius. Achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith. — Map (db m10380) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kitty Hawk — Monument to a Century of Flight |
| | [Marker Front]:
Dedicated on November 8, 2003
In celebration of the soaring of the human spirit
Created by artists
Glen Eure, Hanna Jubran, Jodi Hollnagel Jubran
Architect - Benjamin B. Cahoon
and presented as an enduring legacy by
Icarus International, Inc.
Founders: Glen Eure • Denver Lindley, Jr. • Nancy Tarnai
Board of Directors:
President - William J. Kealy •
Vice President - Ellen Kealy •
Treasurer - Donald W. Bryan •
Secretary - Pat . . . — Map (db m10126) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Kitty Hawk — Wright Brothers' Memorial |
| | [Marker Front]:
On this spot
Sept. 17, 1900
Wilbur Wright
began the assembly of
the
Wright Brothers'
first experimental
glider
which led to man's
conquest of the air.
[Marker Back]:
Sept. 17, 1987
This is a
reproduction of the
Wright Brother's
Memorial Marker
placed on this site
by the Citizens of
Kitty Hawk on
May 2, 1928 — Map (db m9625) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manns Harbor — B-52 — Fort Forrest — ··· |
| | Confederate, mounting seven guns. Protected west side of Croatan Sound. Destroyed on Feb. 8, 1862. Earthworks stood 1 mile N. — Map (db m11339) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — B-44 — Andrew Cartwright |
| | Agent of the American Colonization Society in Liberia, founded the A. M. E. Zion Churches in Albemarle area. His first church, 1865, near here. — Map (db m9462) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — BB-4 — Battle of Roanoke Island |
| | At 3 P.M. February 7, 1862, Union forces under Gen. Ambrose Burnside landed at Ashby Harbor (A). By midnight 7,500 Federals were ashore. A Confederate force of 400 men and 3 field-pieces was sent to resist the Federal landing. The Confederates were driven away by gunfire from the Federal fleet in Croatan Sound (B). The Confederates withdrew north along the only road on the island (C), situated a little to the west of the present State Highway 345 (D), across which a line of breastworks had . . . — Map (db m11386) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — Bondage |
| | and they made their lives
bitter with hard bondage
Exodus 1:14
For the millions of immigrants to this land, America has not been so much a destination as a promise: a promise of equality, a promise of self-determination and a promise of a better life for self and children. No so for the slave.
With their arrival at the Jamestown colony in August of 1619, twenty captive Africans began a legacy of chattel bondage that by 1860 would include 15 states, 4 . . . — Map (db m9670) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — BBB 3 — Confederate Channel Obstructions |
| | Wood pilings placed to stop Federal fleet in Croatan Sound, still visible at low tide. Remains are 2½ mi. W. — Map (db m4875) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — Deliverance |
| | Thus saith the Lord,
Let my people go.
Exodus 8:1
The bloodbath called the Civil War had begun and would cost the lives of over 600,000 Americans. As the Union armies advanced south, refugee slaves followed. After the Northern capture of Roanoke Island in February 1862, more than 3,000 ex-slaves arrived on the island. At the direction of Maj. Gen. John G. Foster, Army chaplain Horace James organized a formal colony with one-acre lots provided for about 600 . . . — Map (db m9669) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — B-1 — First English Colonies |
| | Explored in 1584. Site of first English settlements in new world, 1585-1587. Birthplace of Virginia Dare, first child born of English parents in America. — Map (db m11343) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — First Light of Freedom — The Freedmen’s Colony of Roanoke Island |
| | First Light of Freedom side of marker, below the illustration: Former slaves give thanks by the creek’s edge
at the site of the island - “If you can cross the creek to Roanoke Island, you will find ‘safe haven’.”
The reverse side reads: 1862–1867. A year after the Civil War began, Roanoke Island fell to Union Forces. Word spread throughout North Carolina that slaves could find “safe haven” on the Island. By the end of 1862, over a thousand . . . — Map (db m4626) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — BBB 2 — Fort Bartow |
| | Confederate earth fort mounting nine guns. Bombarded by Federal fleet February 7, 1862. Earthworks 2 ½ mi. W. — Map (db m4874) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — B-64 — Fort Blanchard |
| | Confederate earth fort mounting four guns. Smallest on Roanoke Island. Surrendered on Feb. 8, 1862. Earthworks are 300 yds. S. — Map (db m4863) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — B-2 — Fort Huger |
| | Principal Confederate fort on Roanoke Island. Mounted twelve guns. Surrendered Feb. 8, 1862. Earthworks are 100 yards south. — Map (db m4862) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — Naval Battle of Roanoke Island |
| | During late January, 1862, a Federal land-sea expedition assembled at Hatteras Inlet to take Roanoke Island and capture control of the North Carolina Sound region. This force was under the joint command of General Ambrose Burnside and navy Flag-Officer Louis Goldsborough. After several delays due to bad weather, the Union fleet, consisting of numerous troop transports and more than 20 war vessels, arrived at the southern end of Roanoke Island. On February 7, 1862, Federal warships (O) bombarded . . . — Map (db m4828) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — B-26 — R. A. Fessenden |
| | Inventor. Pioneer in radio communication, conducted wireless experiments, 1901-02, from a station, 600 yds. S. W. — Map (db m9513) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — The New Fort in Virginia / Virginia Dare |
| | On this site, in July – August, 1585 (O.S.), colonists, sent out from England by Sir Walter Raleigh, built a fort, called by them
“The New Fort in Virginia”
These colonists were the first settlers of the English race in America. They returned to England in July, 1586, with Sir Francis Drake.
Near this place was born, on the 18th of August, 1587,
Virginia Dare,
the first child of English Parents born in America – daughter of Ananias Dare and Eleanor White, . . . — Map (db m9460) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — The Promised Land |
| | I have caused thee to see it
with thine eyes,
but thou shalt not go over thither.
Deuteronomy 34:4
The Proclamation of Emancipation gave the military authority to enlist “Such persons of suitable condition…into the armed service of the United States” and the Bureau of Colored Troops was established. Many African-Americans served with distinction.
Despite the promise and participation, African-Americans, in many instances, would continue to be . . . — Map (db m9671) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Manteo — USLSS/USCG Station Pea Island — 1880 - 1947 |
| | Located south of Oregon Inlet, Lifesaving Station Pea Island was the only unit in the history of the Coast Guard manned by all black crews. This marker is dedicated to the crews of Pea Island who risked their lives and endured so that others might live. — Map (db m4610) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Nags Head — B-60 — Port Ferdinando — ··· |
| | Roanoke voyages, 1585~1590, based operations at inlet near here. Long closed, it was named for
pilot Simon Fernandes. — Map (db m11395) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Nags Head — B-31 — The Wreck of the Huron |
| | Near this spot, Nov. 24, 1877, the U.S.S. "Huron" ran ashore with loss of ninety-eight lives. — Map (db m9667) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Rodanthe — B-30 — "Mirlo" Rescue — ··· |
| | A German submarine
sank the British tanker
"Mirlo" off coast nearby,
Aug. 16, 1918. Coast Guard,
led by J. A. Midgett,
saved most of the crew. — Map (db m11394) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Rodanthe — The Chicamacomico Races / Exodus from Chicamacomico |
| | The Chicamacomico Races
Soon after the capture of Hatteras Inlet, Union Colonel Rush C. Hawkins anticipated an assault to dislodge his troops from their new foothold on Hatteras Island. He dispatched 600 troops of the 20th Indiana Regiment from Fort Hatteras to Camp Live Oak, two miles south of here. On October 1, 1861, Captain William A. Lynch of the Confederate Navy, commanding the "Mosquito Fleet," seized the USS Fanny in Pamlico Sound. Three days later, the fleet returned to . . . — Map (db m11489) |
| North Carolina (Dare County), Salvo — The Fanny — First Capture of a Federal Vessel During the Civil War |
| | Late in the afternoon of October 1st, 1861, the Confederate steamers Raleigh, Junaluska and Curlew engaged and seized the Union tug Fanny three miles west of here. Her ammunition and supplies, intended for 600 Union soldiers camped at Chicamacomico near Loggerhead Inlet, were instead delivered to the Confederate troops at Roanoke Island.
Pressed into Confederate service, the Fanny returned to the Union camp three days later as part of the “Mosquito . . . — Map (db m20426) |
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