Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Greene County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Birthplace of Flight
Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
| | National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior | |
The first airplane. The first airport. The first permanent flying school. The Wright brothers started them all-here in Dayton.
After their first short flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903, Wilbur and Orville returned home to their workshop in Dayton. They spent the next 18 months building and testing their flying machine-striving for a fully controllable aircraft. By the end of 1905, their machine could fly twenty miles or more at a time.
Dayton, Ohio
The historic sites that make up this national park are located throughout Dayton.
Staff at the park's visitor facilities can help you plan your visit.
Huffman Prairie Flying Field
Wilbur and Orville made more than 100 test flights here in 1904 and 1905. You can see their 1905 Wright Flyer III exhibited at Wright Brothers Aviation Center at Carillon Historical Park.
Paul Laurence Dunbar State Memorial
This internationally recognized African-American poet, play-wright, and novelist, a classmate and friend of Orville Wright, lived and worked in this house from 1904 to 1906.
Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base hosts this introduction to the cradle of aviation, located next to the Wright Memorial.
Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center
Explore the West Dayton neighborhood where Orville and Wilbur lived and worked. The brothers had their printing business on the second floor of this historic building, and nearby is one of the Wrights' bicycle shops.
Next door to Wright-Dunbar is the Aviation Trail Visitor Center, with exhibits on Dayton aviation history and the Wright brothers. The self- guiding Aviation Trail highlights more than 45 aviation landmarks in the Dayton area.
Wright Brothers Aviation Center
At Carillon Historical Park, you can see the original 1905 Wright Flyer III flown by Orville and Wilbur at Huffman Prairie Flying Field-the world's first practical airplane. Other exhibits include the camera used by the Wrights to record their historic 1903 flight, and a replica of the bicycle shop where they designed and built their gliders and powered flyers.
Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Air & Space. A significant historical year for this entry is 1903.
Location. 39° 48.409′ N, 84° 3.623′ W. Marker is in Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in Greene County. It is at the intersection of Pylon Road and Marl Road, on the right when traveling south on Pylon Road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: Pylon Rd, Dayton OH 45433, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Ohio’s Dayton Metro and in the Miami Valley. It is also in the American Midwest and in the Corn Belt. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The First Airport (within shouting distance of this marker); Corner Boundary No. 7 (within shouting distance of this marker); A Tough Start after Kitty Hawk (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Miss that Tree! (about 500 feet away); 'Higher, Orville, Higher!' (about 600 feet away); Trials in an Old Swamp (about 600 feet away); Flying Field to Air Force Base (about 600 feet away); Those Daring Young Men (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Additional keywords. Wright Brothers
Credits. This page was last revised on October 13, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 8, 2025, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. This page has been viewed 76 times since then and 38 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 8, 2025, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.

