Wright Brothers National Memorial (originally the Kill Devil Hill Monument), located in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, commemorates Wright Flyer; the first successful, sustained, powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine. From 1900 to 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright came to North Carolina 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.
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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, in the Wright Flyer, following three years of gliding experiments from atop this and other nearby sand dunes. The starts and finishes of the routes of the four flights are marked with small monuments. Two wooden sheds, based on historic photographs, recreate the world's first airplane hangar and the brothers' living quarters.
Visitor Center
The Visitor Center is home to a museum featuring models and the 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-sized replica of the Wright brothers' 1903 Wright Flyer, the first powered heavier-than-air aircraft to achieve controlled flight (the original being displayed at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.). A full-scale model of the brothers' 1902 glider is also present, having been constructed under the direction of Orville Wright. On the walls of the glider room are portraits and photographs of other flight pioneers throughout history.
The visitor center's modern design was a departure from the National Park Service's earlier, more traditional buildings, and was built as part of its "Mission 66" modernization and expansion program. As the first major building of that effort, it was a high-profile success, bringing critical notice for its modern design and launching the careers of its designers. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975 for its architecture and its importance to the Park Service's program.
Kill Devil Hill and the Memorial Tower
A 60 feet (18.29 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 large 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.
The doors of the tower are stainless steel over nickel, with a price of $3,000 in 1928 (equivalent to $44,374 in 2025). The six relief panels represent the conquest of the air:
Left door (top to bottom):
The inventions of a French locksmith named Besnier, who theorized that he could fly if he propelled himself into the air while wearing paddles on his arms and legs.
An homage to Otto Lilienthal, a German aviation inventor who died while conducting gliding experiments.
A reference to Cyrano de Bergerac, a French philosopher who hypothesized that, since dew rose in the morning, if it could be placed in an expandable bag attached to a box and sail, it would naturally rise when placed in the sun.
Right door (top to bottom):
Icarus, the Greek mythological figure who tried to fly from Crete by attaching feathers to his arms with wax. He fell when he flew too close to the sun, melting the wax.
Bird flight to plane flight, or the rise of a phoenix.
Kites used by the Wrights and others in early experiments.
Centennial of Flight
On December 17, 2003, the Centennial of Flight was celebrated at the park. The ceremony was hosted by actor John Travolta, and included appearances by President George W. Bush, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, and test pilot Chuck Yeager. The Centennial Pavilion was built for the celebration and housed exhibits showing the Outer Banks at the turn-of-the-century, the development of the 1903 replica, and NASA provided displays on aviation and flight. Above the stage in the pavilion were Aldrin's words: "From Kitty Hawk to the Moon in Sixty-Six years." The Centennial Pavilion closed in 2014 and is slated to be demolished due to budget constraints.
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 the 1903 Wright Flyer the moment the flight began and includes the Wright Brothers along with members of the Kill Devil 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.
The sculpture correctly has a criss-crossed chain driving the port propeller but incorrectly has this propeller being identical to, rather than a mirror image of, the starboard propeller.
Plane crash
On September 28, 2024, a single engine plane crashed while trying to land at the First Flight Airport in the memorial, killing all five occupants of the aircraft.