Wright Brothers National Museum

Located within Carillon Historical Park in Ohio, the Wright Brothers National Museum is home to more Wright artefacts than any other place in the world. Highlights include the 1905 Wright Flyer III, which was the Wright’s first practical flying machine and the only aeroplane to have been designated a National Historic Landmark.

History of Wright Brothers National Museum

Carillon Historical Park is a 65 acre park and museum that serves as the main site for Dayton History. It has been open to the public since 1950. It contains historic buildings and exhibits surrounding the history of technology and Dayton and its residents from 1796 to today, and is part of the University of Dayton. The key focus of historical elements of the park are settlement, transportation, invention and industry.

Wright Hall forms part of the museum, and was in part designed by Orville Wright himself (this is referred to as ‘the first pilot’s last project’) though he died just a few years before it opened. Wright Hall contains the 1905 Wright Flyer III, which Orville Wright made the first ‘proper’ flight with on June 23, 1905. It was restored from 1948 to 1950.

Next to Wright Hall is the Wright bicycle shop, which is a replica of Wilbur and Orville’s fifth and final store in West Dayton. Purchased by Henry Ford in 1938, it resembles what the store would have looked like between mid-October and mid-December 1901.

Wright Brothers National Museum today

Today, the museum is a hugely popular visitor site because of its range of exhibits. Other highlights include Newcom Tavern, the 1796 home of Colonel George Newcom and the oldest building in Dayton, an 1815 stone cottage called William Morris House, and a one-room schoolhouse that dates from 1896 called Locust Grove School.

The park has a rotating schedule of festivals and events throughout the year.

Getting to Wright Brothers National Museum

From the centre of Columbus, you can take the greyhound bus to Chicago, IL, directly to Shiloh Springs Road. From there, the 8 and 11 buses will take you to Patterson at Schantz. The museum is a 10 minute walk from there. By car, the drive is just over an hour from the centre of Columbus via via I-70 W.