The National Park Service will celebrate National Park Week from April 16-24, 2016. The Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, at 16 S. Williams St. in Dayton, is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. every day in non-winter months.
Note: Descriptions below the photos are taken from the park's displays.
Starting point
The Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and the Aviation Trail Visitors Center is the place to start a visit to the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Park. The park was established in 1992 and includes six sites that highlight a different part of the park's story. It is part of the National Aviation Heritage Area which the U.S. Congress established in 2004 to recognize the Dayton region's role in aviation history and development.
Wright Cycle Co.
The Wright Cycle Co. gives a look at the Wright Brothers work with manufacturing bicycles. The business operated from this site between 1895 and 1897. The brothers' work with bicycles led to exploring the idea of manned flight.
From bikes to planes
Inside the Wright Cycle Co, visitors can see displays about the bicycles the Wright brothers made and maintained while exploring manned flight.
Used at Kitty Hawk
Tent pegs used by the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk, N.C., where they made their first powered flight in 1903. The brothers needed an out-of-the-way place that had lots of wind, few trees and soft places to land for their first flight. Wilbur Wright chose Kitty Hawk on North Carolina's Outer Banks.
The life of Dunbar
The life of Dayton poet Paul Laurence Dunbar is chronicled in photographs, a film biography and a timeline of family history at the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center. The Paul Laurence Dunbar House State Memorial is nearby at 219 N. Paul Laurence Dunbar St. It can be toured Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wright brothers: Printers?
Wilbur and Orville Wright opened Wright & Wright Job Printers in a second floor office suite in West Dayton. The business has been restored at the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and features some of the original printing equipment once owned and used by the Wright Brothers.
Even innovators need groceries
Step back in time and browse the Frank B. Hale grocery store at the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center. The store, located in its' original spot, has been carefully recreated to resemble the store in the early 1900's when the Wright Brothers and Paul Laurence Dunbar shopped there.
Hear Dunbar's poems
Visitors can listen to 10 poems written by Dayton poet Paul Laurence Dunbar at the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center. The poems include "The Seedling," Little Brown Baby," and "The Haunted Oak."
The early Wrights
Visitors can learn about the early life of Orville and Wilbur Wright. One interesting fact describes a present Milton Wright brought home to his sons - a toy "helicopter." According to information in the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center, the boys were fascinated with the small flying machine and designed a version of their own.
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