On Wright Brothers National Monument Road, on the right when traveling east.
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. . . . — — Map (db m10181) HM
On Wright Brothers National Monument Road, on the right when traveling east.
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 . . . — — Map (db m10183) HM
Near Colington Road at Veterans Drive, on the left when traveling east.
Resourcefulness, tireless work ethic, dedication, and importance of family—these words describe both the Wright brothers and Outer Banks residents. Through these shared traits, the Wrights and their Outer Banks neighbors developed mutual respect and . . . — — Map (db m190803) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m9768) HM
Near Wright Memorial west of North Croatan Highway (U.S. 158), on the right when traveling west.
When the Wright brothers were here, Big Kill Devil Hill—the hill in front of you—was a massive sand dune. Thousands of times, the brothers trekked up this and three nearby dunes to conduct glider experiments.
Climbing the hill . . . — — Map (db m114493) HM
Near Wright Memorial west of North Croatan Highway (U.S. 158), on the right when traveling west.
On December 17th, 1928, only 25 years after the Wrights achieved flight, three thousand people from over forty nations gathered at this remote place to celebrate the global importance of the birth of flight.
The National Aeronautic . . . — — Map (db m114485) HM
[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 . . . — — Map (db m9631) WM
On Wright Brothers National Monument Road, on the right when traveling north.
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 . . . — — Map (db m10179) HM
"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) HM
Near Wright Memorial west of North Croatan Highway (U.S. 158), on the right when traveling west.
On this cold and windy morning, the Wrights achieved the world’s first controlled flights. Here, they realized not only their own dream—but also one of humanity’s oldest dreams—to fly!
The boulder and numbered markers on the . . . — — Map (db m114482) HM
Near Wright Memorial Road west of Croatan Highway, on the right when traveling west.
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. . . . — — Map (db m136217) HM
Near Wright Memorial west of North Croatan Highway (U.S. 158), on the right when traveling west.
After four years of scientific research and rigorous experimentation, and with their 1903 Flyer on the rail, the Wrights are set to fly. In unison, they each pull down on a propeller. The engine roars to life and the propellers whip through the . . . — — Map (db m114489) HM
Near North Croatan Highway (U.S. 158) at Wright Memorial Drive, on the left when traveling north.
Wilbur and Orville Wright lived and worked here during their 1901, 1902, and 1903 testing sessions, late summer through autumn. The reconstructed buildings in front of you depict the Wright brothers’ 1903 camp.
Each year, the brothers refined . . . — — Map (db m182533) HM
"...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, . . . — — Map (db m10146) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m9715) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m9767) HM
"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 . . . — — Map (db m10149) HM
"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 . . . — — Map (db m10150) HM
"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 . . . — — Map (db m10151) HM
"We intend to be comfortable while we are here."
Wilbur Wright, November 23, 1903
These replica buildings mark the location of the Wright brothers' hangar (left) and living quarters (right) of their 1903 Kill Devil Hills . . . — — Map (db m32120) HM
On Wright Brothers National Monument Road, on the right when traveling east.
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 . . . — — Map (db m10185) HM
"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 power into full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed, and had finally . . . — — Map (db m31994) HM
From a 60-foot wooden track laid on these sands Orville Wright rose into the wind on the morning of December 17, 1903. It was the first time in history that “a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full . . . — — Map (db m62511) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m114484) HM
Near North Croatan Highway (U.S. 158) near Wright Memorial Drive, on the left when traveling north.
Wilbur and Orville Wright tested and proved their flight theories in Dayton, Ohio. To test actual flight, however, they needed a special location to experiment. Using US Weather Bureau statistics, they looked for a place that was windy, sandy, and . . . — — Map (db m182532) HM
On Prospect Avenue near Virginia Dare Trail (North Carolina Highway 12), on the right when traveling west. Reported permanently removed.
On December 17, 1903, from site near foot of Kill Devil Hill, Orville and Wilbur Wright made first successful powered flight ⅕ mile west. — — Map (db m190804) HM
On North Croatan Highway (U.S. 158), on the left when traveling north.
On December 17, 1903, from site near foot of Kill Devil Hill, Orville and Wilbur Wright made first successful powered flight 1/5 mile west. — — Map (db m190805) HM
Near Croatan Highway (U.S. 158) at Prospect Avenue.
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) HM
