Wright Brothers National Memorial

Wright Brothers National Memorial
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
Monument at Wright Brothers National Memorial.
Location	Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, USA
Area	428.44 acres (1.73 km²)
Established	March 2, 1927
Visitors	491,608 (in 2007)
Governing body
Wright Brothers National Memorial
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Architect:	Rogers & Poor; National Park Service
Architectural style:	Art Deco
NRHP Reference#:	66000071
Added to NRHP:	October 15, 1966

Wright Brothers National Memorial, located in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, commemorates the first successful, sustained, powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine. From 1900 to 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright came here from Dayton, Ohio, based on information from the U.S. Weather Bureau about the area's steady winds. They also valued the privacy provided by this location, which in the early twentieth century was remote from major population centers.

Administrative history

Authorized as Kill Devil Hill Monument on March 2, 1927, it was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service on August 10, 1933. Congress renamed it and designated it a national memorial on December 4, 1953. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the national memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. The memorial's visitor center, designed by Ehrman Mitchell and Romaldo Giurgola, was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 3, 2001. The memorial is co-managed with two other Outer Banks parks, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Exhibits and features

The Field and Hangar

The Wrights made four flights from level ground near the base of the hill on December 17, 1903, following three years of gliding experiments from atop this and other nearby sand dunes. It is possible to walk along the actual routes of the four flights, with small monuments marking their starts and finishes. Two wooden sheds, based on historic photographs, recreate the world's first airplane hangar and the brothers' living quarters.

Visitor Center

visitors center

The Visitor Center is home to a museum featuring models and actual tools and machines used by the Wright brothers during their flight experiments including a reproduction of the wind tunnel used to test wing shapes and a portion of the engine used in the first flight. In one wing of the Visitor Center is a life-size replica of the Wright brothers' 1903 Flyer, the first powered aircraft in history to achieve controlled flight. A full-scale model of the Brothers' 1902 glider is also present, having been constructed under the direction of Orville Wright himself. Adorning the walls of the glider room are portraits and photographs of other flight pioneers throughout history.

Kill Devil Hill and the Memorial Tower

The spot on the Wright Brothers Memorial where the 1932 dedication took place.

A 60-foot (18 m) granite monument, dedicated in 1932, is perched atop 90-foot-tall (27 m) Kill Devil Hill, commemorating the achievement of the Wright brothers. They conducted many of their glider tests on the massive shifting dune that was later stabilized to form Kill Devil Hill. Inscribed in capital letters along the base of the memorial tower is the phrase "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." Atop the tower is a marine beacon, similar to one found in a lighthouse.

Building the Memorial

Kill Devil Hill Monument

The tower was designed by Rodgers and Poor, a New York architectural firm; the design was officially selected on February 14, 1930. Prior to the memorial's construction, the War Department selected Captain William H. Kindervater of the Quartermaster Corps to prepare the site for construction and to manage the area landscaping. To secure the sandy foundation, Captain Kindervater selected bermuda grass to be planted on Kill Devil Hill and the surrounding area. He also ordered a special fertilizer to be spread throughout the area to promote grass and shrubbery growth and decided to build a fence to prevent animal grazing. With a strong foundation in place, the Office of the Quartermaster selected Marine Captain John A. Gilman to preside over the construction project. Construction began in October 1931 and with a budget of $213,000, the memorial was completed in November 1932. In the end, 1,200 tons of granite, more than 2,000 tons of gravel, more than 800 tons of sand and almost 400 tons of cement were used to build the structure, along with numerous other materials.

Memorial Dedication

November 14, 1932 was selected as the dedication day; over 20,000 people were expected to attend. Yet, only about 1,000 actually came to the event, which was held on a stormy and windy day. Orville Wright was the main guest of honor at the ceremony, and aviator Ruth Nichols was given the privilege of removing the American flag that covered the word "GENIUS" and the plaque on the monument. President Herbert Hoover was unable to attend the ceremony; however, a letter from the President was read prior to the dedication. The ceremony also marked the rare occasion when one of the persons the memorial was dedicated to (Orville Wright) was still living.

The hill offers great views of the surrounding area.

Centennial of Flight

First Flight interactive sculpture

On December 17, 2003, the Centennial of Flight was celebrated at the Park. The ceremony was hosted by flight enthusiast John Travolta, and included appearances by President George W. Bush, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Chuck Yeager. The Centennial Pavilion was built for the celebration and today houses exhibits showing the Outer Banks at the turn-of-the-century, the development of the 2003 replica, and NASA provided displays on aviation and flight.

An interactive sculpture was donated by the State of North Carolina and dedicated during the celebration. The life sized sculpture, created by Stephen H. Smith, is a full-sized replica of 1903 flyer the moment the flight began and includes the Wright Brothers along with members of the Kill Devils Hills Life-Saving Station who assisted in moving the aircraft, as well as John T. Daniels who took the now famous photograph of the first flight.

Gallery

• 

  Kill Devil Hill Monument, as it appeared in 1929.

• 

  Park Ranger Tom White demonstrates a model of the flexible wing of the Wright Flyer

• 

  Photo of the monument from the rear.

• 

  sign by the National Park Service

• 

  Overview of the site taken from the memorial atop Kill Devil Hill.

• 

  The first powered flight site from the east. The monument in the center was established in 1928.

• 

  reproduction of the launch rail

• 

  flight profile from the east

• 

  first landing spot

• 

  in 2001, the US Mint selected the first flight as the image North Carolina's issue in the state quarter series

See also

• Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
• The 1983 film Brainstorm (1983 film) which featured several key scenes filmed at the monument.

References

• The National Parks: Index 2001–2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.

External links

• Official website
• Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor Center National Historic Landmark information
• More on site from NPS, including historic photos
• Aviation related National Park Service site list
• Video Tour
• "Chaining a Mountain of Sand" Popular Mechanics Monthly, July 1930, pp 99-98 article on purposed memorial and engineering problems