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The Wright Company
Brothers Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) and Orville Wright (1871-1948) built their first experimental airplanes in the back of their bicycle shop at 1127 West Third Street in Dayton, Ohio. They formed the Wright Company in November 1909. The Wright Company started manufacturing airplanes in Dayton, and it coordinated the Wright Exhibition Team and Flying School at Huffman Field to help market their invention.
The Wright Exhibition Team operated only briefly from 1910-1911, while the Flying School lasted through 1916. Civilians and military aviators trained at the Flying School at Huffman Field, which was characterized by uneven and sometimes marshy terrain.
“Here we must depend on a long track, and light winds or even dead calms. It is skirted on the west and north by trees. This not only shuts off the wind somewhat but also probably gives a slight downtrend. However, this matter we do not consider anything serious. The greater troubles are the facts that in addition to cattle there have been a dozen or more horses in pasture and as it is surrounded by barbwire fencing we have been at much trouble to get them safely away before making trials. Also the ground is an old swamp and is filled with grassy hummocks some six inches high so that it resembles a prairie-dog town.”
–Wilbur Wright to Octave Chanute, June 21, 1904, cited in the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Cultural Landscape Report (pg. 13)
The Wright Company started by producing airplane engines and drive trains in their bicycle shop before eventually moving into their new factory.
On September 9, 2019 the Wright Company Factory was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Dayton’s identity as a city of innovation and industry allowed the Wright Company better access to skilled workers and machinery. The Wright Company produced approximately 120 airplanes in 13 different models and introduced industrial aviation.
Explore this history through some of the cultural landscapes of Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park:
More:
- Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park: Visit the park website to learn more and plan your own visit
- “Wright airplane factory placed on national historic registry,” Dayton Daily News, September 16, 2019
- The Wright Company Factory Site, National Aviation Heritage Area
- Wright Brothers Photograph Collection: Wright State University Special Collections
- Wright Brothers Negatives Collection: Library of Congress
- What are cultural landscapes?
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