Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park

Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park is a protected area spread across multiple sites dedicated to aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright, preserving their bicycle shop and experimental grounds. The park also safeguards the factory where the Wright Company manufactured its first aircraft and the residence of an important local writer.

The Wright brothers began their flight experiments in Dayton in the late 1800s, establishing the foundations of aircraft technology that would change the world. Decades later, their workshop was rescued and became the foundation of a park created to preserve their innovations and legacy.

Paul Laurence Dunbar's home sits within the park grounds, where the writer lived and created works reflecting his community's experiences and voices. It shows how multiple figures from Dayton shaped the cultural life of their era.

The park spreads across multiple locations throughout the city, so visitors should know that two visitor centers help guide people between the different sites and provide information about each location. Planning which sites to visit in advance helps you see the ones that matter most to you.

The Wright Company factory building is the first structure in America specifically designed and built for aircraft manufacturing, showing how production shifted from a workshop to an organized industrial operation. This building marks the moment when experimentation became an actual manufacturing process.

Location: Greene County

Location: Montgomery County

Inception: 1992

Operator: National Park Service

Website: https://nps.gov/daav

GPS coordinates: 39.79470,-84.08890

Latest update: December 7, 2025 20:45