Wright Brothers National Memorial

Wright Brothers National Memorial is a 60-foot (about 18 meters) granite monument atop Big Kill Devil Hill that commemorates the first powered flight experiments by the brothers. The structure follows Art Deco lines and rises above the wooded dunes and sandy flats along the North Carolina coast.

Congress authorized a monument at Kill Devil Hill in 1927, later administered by the National Park Service and renamed to its current form in 1953. The site preserves the location where the Wright brothers completed four measured flights on December 17, 1903, launching a new era in aviation.

The surrounding dunes and open fields reflect the natural conditions Wilbur and Orville encountered when they sought a windy training ground far from major cities. Visitors today follow a marked path that traces the runway and shows how brief the first powered flights truly were.

A visitor center offers exhibits and reproductions of the aircraft, while reconstructed workshop buildings provide a glimpse into the preparations. Wide paths lead to marked points that trace the takeoff and landing of the four flights, with paved walkways making the grounds easy to explore.

Numbered stones on the ground mark the exact landing spots of each of the four flights, with the longest covering only 852 feet (about 260 meters). Wind from the nearby Atlantic coast helped gliders and aircraft lift off this exposed sandy ground then and still blows steadily across the area today.

Location: Kill Devil Hills

Inception: 1931

Architects: Alfred Easton Poor

Architectural style: Art Deco architecture

Fee: Yes

Made from material: granite

Operator: National Park Service

Address: 1000 N Croatan Hwy, Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948

Website: https://nps.gov/wrbr

GPS coordinates: 36.01430,-75.66790

Latest update: December 19, 2025 23:20