Five Points in Dayton in Montgomery County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
We were always happy on Hawthorne Street...
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., January 20, 2012
1. We were always happy on Hawthorne Street... Marker
The Wright brothers were in their twenties when they became interested in aeronautical science. Five adults lived here in the years that Wilbur and Orville debated their ideas about how to develop a flying machine around the dining room table. Their mother died of tuberculosis in 1889, when the brothers were teenagers.
Milton Wright headed a family of young adults that put a high premium on family unity. To an extraordinary degree the four Wrights who lived in this house trusted, depended on, and defended each other rather than look for help from outsiders.
It was a comfortable house for its day, filled with Victorian furniture, books, and visitors. Wilbur and Orville's spirited discussions around the dinner table here led to the solutions they needed to invent the airplane.
Who Lived Here
Bishop Milton Wright (1828-1917)
was an editor, a theology professor, and a conservative minister of the United Brethren in Christ (Old Constitution).
Wilbur Wright (1867-1912)
was the third of seven children. Wilbur died of typhoid fever in 1912 here on Hawthorne Street.
Orville Wright (1871-1948)
was the sixth of seven children.
this page online
Katharine Wright (1874-1929)
was the youngest of seven children. When her two brothers first flew in 1903, Katharine was 29 years old.
Carrie Kayler Grumbach
kept house for the Wrights from 1900 to 1948.
Photographs courtesy NCR Archives at Dayton History and Wright State University Special Collections and Archives.
Erected by National Park Service.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Education • Entertainment • Man-Made Features. A significant historical year for this entry is 1889.
Location. 39° 45.275′ N, 84° 12.691′ W. Marker is in Dayton, Ohio, in Montgomery County. It is in Five Points. It is on 3rd Street west of Hawthorne Street, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Dayton OH 45402, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Ohio’s 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
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., January 20, 2012
2. We were always happy on Hawthorne Street... Marker
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Neighborhood Geniuses (a few steps from this marker); Wright Brothers Home Base (a few steps from this marker); Preserved and Enshrined (a few steps from this marker); 30 South Williams Street (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Wheels to Wings (about 400 feet away); Birthplace of Aviation (about 400 feet away); Tecumseh (about 400 feet away); West Side (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Dayton.
Also see . . . Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. (Submitted on December 15, 2012, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
Credits. This page was last revised on April 21, 2026. It was originally submitted on December 15, 2012, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 1,315 times since then and 77 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 15, 2012, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
