Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park is a United States

National Historical Park National Historic Site (NHS) is a designation for an officially recognized area of national historic significance in the United States. An NHS usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject. The National Historic ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

that commemorates three important historical figures— Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright, and poet

Paul Laurence Dunbar Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...

—and their work in the

Miami Valley The Miami Valley is the land area surrounding the Great Miami River in southwest Ohio, USA, and includes the Little Miami, Mad, and Stillwater rivers as well. Geographically, it includes Dayton, Springfield, Middletown, Hamilton, and other ...

Park history

The idea for the present-day Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park was first conceived by Jerry Sharkey. Much of the Dayton neighborhood where Orville and Wilbur Wright had lived and worked had already been destroyed by the 1970s. Neglect, riots during the 1960s, and a highway project through the city had leveled much of the neighborhood. Decades earlier, Henry Ford had also relocated one of the Wrights' bicycle shops from Dayton to its present location in

Greenfield Village, Michigan The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, United States. The museum collection contains ...

, for display. Sharkey's quest to preserve the Wright brothers' legacy began when he purchased their last surviving bicycle shop in Dayton for just $10,000, which saved the building from demolition. He also founded the Aviation Trail Inc., a nonprofit group dedicated to the creation of a potential national park or historic district encompassing the Wright brothers' buildings. Sharkey enlisted the help of local political and media figures to lobby for the creation of the park. Notable figures who supported its creation included the descendants of the Wright brothers, aviation historian Tom Crouch, U.S. District Judge Walter H. Rice, then- U.S. Rep.

Dave Hobson David Lee Hobson (born October 17, 1936) is an American lawyer and politician of the Republican Party who served as a U.S. representative from the seventh congressional district of Ohio from 1991 to 2009. Early life and education Hobson was b ...

, ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately ...

'' publisher Brad Tillson, and Michael Gessel, an aide to former U.S. Rep.

Tony P. Hall Tony Patrick Hall (born January 16, 1942) is an American politician, businessman, and diplomat who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 3rd congressional district from 1979 to 2002. Hall had previously se ...

. The group lobbied federal officials and the National Park Service to incorporate the landmarks related to the Wright brothers, which are scattered throughout the city, into a new historic trail. The

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

passed legislation to establish the new park. In 1992, President George H. W. Bush signed the bill which created the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park into law. In addition to the Wright brothers' sites, the new park also preserved

the home ''The Home'' was a high quality Australian quarterly magazine published in Sydney, New South Wales between 1920 and 1942. It became bimonthly from July/August 1924. Then from 1926 onwards it was published monthly until it ceased publication ...

, an acclaimed

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

and friend of the Wright brothers. Jerry Sharkey donated the Wright brothers' bicycle shop, which he had saved from demolition, to the National Park Service as part of the agreement to create the park. A new

visitor center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visi ...

was constructed in 2003 in time for the

centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at ...

of the Wright brothers'

first flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alw ...

. Jerry Sharkey, who had first conceived of the future historic park, died in April 2014.

Biographical backgrounds

The Wright Brothers

Through the invention of powered flight, Wilbur and Orville Wright made significant contributions to human history. In their Dayton, Ohio, bicycle shops, the Wright brothers, who self-trained in the science and art of aviation, researched and built the world's first power-driven, heavier-than-air machine capable of free, controlled, and sustained flight. The Wrights also perfected their invention during 1904 and 1905 at the Huffman Prairie Flying Field near their hometown of Dayton.

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar achieved national and international acclaim in a literary world that was almost exclusively reserved for whites, producing a body of work that included novels, plays, short stories, lyrics, and over 400 published poems. His work, which reflected much of the

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

experience in the United States, contributed to a growing social consciousness and cultural identity for African Americans. Although he died in 1906, his writings contributed to later developments in African American history, such as the Harlem Renaissance and the early

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

. He was a neighbor and lifelong friend of Wilbur and Orville Wright.

Landmarks

The park is a cooperative effort between the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

and several partners. The sites are: * The Wright Cycle Company Complex in Dayton, which includes the Wright Cycle Company building, the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and the Aviation Trail Visitor Center and Museum * Huffman Prairie Flying Field and the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center, both located within

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wr ...

just northeast of Dayton in

Fairborn, Ohio Fairborn is a city in Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 34,620 at the 2020 census. Fairborn is a suburb of Dayton, and part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the only city in the world named Fairborn, a po ...

, but operated by the

and open to the public. *

Wright Company The Wright Company was the commercial aviation business venture of the Wright Brothers, established by them on November 22, 1909, in conjunction with several prominent industrialists from New York and Detroit with the intention of capitalizing o ...

factory, opened in 1910 as the first airplane factory and school * The Wright Brothers Aviation Center at

Carillon Historical Park Carillon Historical Park is a 65-acre (26.3 ha) park and museum in Dayton, Ohio, which contains historic buildings and exhibits concerning the history of technology and the history of Dayton and its residents from 1796 to the present. As a part o ...

in Dayton, operated by

Dayton History Dayton History is an organization located in Dayton, Ohio, USA, formed in 2005 by the merger of the Montgomery County Historical Society (originally the Dayton Historical Society) and Dayton's Carillon Historical Park Carillon Historical Park is ...

* The Paul Laurence Dunbar State Memorial in Dayton, operated by Dayton History on behalf of

Ohio History Connection Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

Hawthorn Hill Hawthorn Hill in Oakwood, Ohio, USA, was the post-1914 home of Orville, Milton and Katharine Wright. Wilbur and Orville Wright intended for it to be their joint home, but Wilbur died in 1912, before the home's 1914 completion. The brothers ...

, the 1914-1948 residence of Orville Wright, located just south of Dayton in Oakwood, Ohio. Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park is located within the National Aviation Heritage Area, an eight-county region in Ohio established as a

National Heritage Area In the United States, a National Heritage Area (NHA) is a site designated by Act of Congress, intended to encourage historic preservation of the area and an appreciation of the history and heritage of the site. There are currently 62 NHAs, some ...

by Congress in 2004. The U.S. Department of the Interior listed three units of the park (Huffman Prairie Flying Field, Wright Hall and the 1905 Wright Flyer, and the Wright Cycle Company and Wright and Wright Printing building) on the 2008 U.S.

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

Tentative List as part of the Dayton Aviation Sites listing.UNESCO page for tentative designation for components of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
/ref> The park is a central component of the National Aviation Heritage Area. Image:Dayton Aviaition Hoover Block & printing office.JPG, Hoover Block, where the Wright Brothers had their printing shop. Image:Dayton Aviaition Wrights & Dunbar.JPG, Entry frieze to Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park visitor center. Image:Hawthornhillhouse4.jpg,

, Orville Wright's home in Oakwood, Ohio File:Wright Memorial Dayton.jpg, Wright Memorial, on a hill overlooking Huffman Prairie, by the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center Image:Wrightworkshop.jpg, Recreated workshop from the Wright Bicycle Shop where the brothers conducted research into aviation. Image:Wright Flyer III above.jpg, The

Wright Flyer III The Wright Flyer III was the third powered aircraft by the Wright Brothers, built during the winter of 1904–05. Orville Wright made the first flight with it on June 23, 1905. The Flyer III had an airframe of spruce construction with a wing ...

, now in

, shown being flown by Orville Wright on October 4, 1905, over Huffman Prairie near Dayton File:Pauldunbar.jpg, Dunbar on 1975 U.S. postage stamp

References

External links

Official NPS Site

2008 U.S. World Heritage Tentative List Report, with section on the Dayton Aviation Sites

* ttp://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/aviation/ Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
Carillon Park
- home of the 1905 Wright Flyer III
Ohio Historical Society site for the Paul Laurence Dunbar State Memorial
{{authority control World Heritage Tentative List Air transportation on the National Register of Historic Places Protected areas of Montgomery County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Ohio National Historical Parks of the United States Wright brothers Museums in Dayton, Ohio Aerospace museums in Ohio National Park Service areas in Ohio History of Dayton, Ohio Tourist attractions in Montgomery County, Ohio Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Protected areas established in 1992 Biographical museums in Ohio National Aviation Heritage Area 1992 establishments in Ohio