Kitty Hawk in Dare County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Wright Brothers' Memorial

Photographed by Kyle W

1. Wright Brothers' Memorial

Inscription.
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.
1928
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

Erected 1987 by Citizens of Kitty Hawk, N.C.

Topics. This historical marker and memorial is listed in this topic list: Air & Space. A significant historical date for this entry is May 2, 1928.

Location. 36° 3.711′ N, 75° 42.056′ W. Marker is in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in Dare County. It is on Moore Shore Road 0.1 miles W. Kitty Hawk Road, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Kitty Hawk NC 27949, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker and memorial is in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain and on the Outer Banks.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

and in the Tidewater.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Monument to a Century of Flight (approx. 2.6 miles away); Take a Boy Fishing in North Carolina (approx. 2.7 miles away); Kill Devil Hills Fire Rescue Memorial (approx. 2.7 miles away); Colington Island (approx. 3.1 miles away); End of 4th Flight (approx. 3.3 miles away); End of 3rd Flight (approx. 3.4 miles away);

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End of 2nd Flight (approx. 3.4 miles away); End of First Flight (approx. 3.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Kitty Hawk.

Additional commentary.
1. Memorial Marker History
In 1928, the citizens of Kitty Hawk erected a granite marker on the spot where Wilbur Wright began the assembly of the Wright Bothers’ first experimental glider, which led to man’s conquest of the air. Seventy Kitty Hawk citizens and the Ladies Aid Society contributed a total of $210 for the marker, which was placed on the lawn of a house on Moore Shore Road in Kitty Hawk Village.

When Wilbur Wright started building the glider on September 17, 1900, the house was occupied by the W. J. Tate family, with whom he boarded when he first came to North Carolina. When the original monument was erected, the house had been sold to the Methodist Church and was being used a a parsonage.

The original house was destroyed by a fire which also caused a major crack in the monument. That damage, plus other wear through its 59 years, prompted the Kitty Hawk Citizens’ Association in early 1987 to begin a drive to replace the monument.

By soliciting contributions from local

Wright Brothers' Memorial Marker </b>(back) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Kevin W., July 20, 2008

2. Wright Brothers' Memorial Marker (back)

residents, businesses and property owners, the Citizens’ Association raised $4,000 to replace the monument and to hold a dedication ceremony.

Today, the reproduction of the original monument is being dedicated to the town of Kitty Hawk in memory of not only the Wright Brothers, who made the dream of flight a reality, but also in remembrance of those 70 original contributors who had the wisdom and the foresight to commemorate a place in history.

[Source: from Dedication Ceremonies on 9/17/87 (see below picture titled Memorial Marker History).]

— Submitted July 28, 2008, by Kevin W. of Stafford, Virginia.