Wright Brothers Memorial

We suggest that you stop first at the Visitor Center upon arrival, where the story of the Wright brothers is told through exhibits and full-scale reproductions of the 1902 glider and the 1903 flying machine. A large granite boulder at the first flight area near the reconstructed 1903 camp buildings marks the spot where the first airplane left the ground. Numbered markers indicate the distance of each of the four flights made on December 17, 1903.One of the 1903 camp buildings duplicates the one used by the brothers as a hangar for the 1903 Flyer. The other is similar to the one used as a workshop and living quarters in 1903.The Wright Brothers Monument crowns Kill Devil Hill, a 90-foot dune of once shifting sand that has been stabilized with grass. The 60-foot monument constructed of gray granite from Mount Airy, NC, honors the Wright brothers and marks the site of the hundreds of glider flights that preceded the first powered flight. The monument underwent a total renovation sponsored by the First Flight Foundation in 2008.