The Wright Brothers' 1903 Flyer and Camp at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

THF285496 / The Wright Brothers' 1903 Flyer and Camp at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina
01

Artifact Overview

Wilbur and Orville Wright established a modest camp among the sand dunes at Kill Devil Hills. They built a wooden shed to house their glider -- and themselves -- in 1901. When they returned with the powered Flyer airplane in 1903, the brothers built a new, larger hangar and converted the old shed into living quarters. Wilbur jokingly called it their "summer house."

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

24 November 1903

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

64.167.833.P.76988.D

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)
Linen (Material)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 8 in
Width: 11 in

02

Related Content

  • Wright Cycle Shop in Greenfield Village, September 2007
    Set

    Wright Cycle Company

    • 32 Artifacts
    When Wilbur and Orville Wright established Wright Cycle Company in 1892, they joined a booming business. Americans loved bicycles. By 1895, over 300 manufacturers produced a combined 1.2 million bikes each year. The Wrights sold and repaired cycles and accessories. For a time, they even built bikes under their own brands. Bicycles gave the brothers the skills and resources to pursue loftier goals, and they closed Wright Cycle Company in 1908.