| About 45 minutes north of Conscience Point is Kill Devil Hills. It was in Kill Devil Hills where in 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright took the first powered flight. The two brothers were immortalized in the picture to the left, which shows a much different area than exists today.
The Wrights' story is unique. They began their careers in Dayton, Ohio as printers/editors for The West Side News in 1890. About a year later, the Wrights began their own daily newspaper, the Evening Item.
Around that time, the bicycling craze swept the nation. Therefore, in 1894, the Wright Brothers began repairing and selling bicycles. This grew into its own business and by 1896 the brothers began to manufacture their own bicycles. They ultimately created The Wright Cycle Company and began to turn a tidy profit.
The bicycle craze waned just as quickly as it appeared. Wilbur found himself less interested in bicycles and in 1899 became obsessed with the "problem of flight." He wrote to the Smithsonian asking for all information on the subject. At the time, the Smithsonian was receiving mail from all sorts of "cranks" and did not take much notice of Wilbur's letter. They collected a series of pamphlets and reference materials and sent them to Wilbur. This collection of materials began a swift march by Wilbur to experiment on his theories related to flight.
Wilbur's design called for wind speeds of at least 15 mph. He wrote to the U.S. Weather Bureau to find a list of wind speeds in America. He soon received information which he already knew, Chicago was the windiest city in America. This was not an option for Wilbur, as the press would quickly ruin Wilbur's ability to experiment freely. Sixth on the list was a place Wilbur had never heard of, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Wilbur quickly wrote to the weather bureau in Kitty Hawk inquiring about the possibility of experimenting in the Outer Banks. Fortunately, the correspondence was passed on to the local postmaster, William Tate. A warm reception from Mr. Tate was all it took to convince Wilbur and in late August 1900, Wilbur set off on his journey.
On September 12, 1900, after an arduous journey to Norfolk ultimately through Albermarle Sound on two vessels that were barely seaworthy, Wilbur finally saw and stepped foot in the small town of Kitty Hawk. He went quickly to work desiging his experimental glider. Within the month, Orville joined him and the two were on their way to immortality. The brothers returned to Kitty Hawk every year over the next three years improving upon their design and becoming expert fliers. |
