Issue 15 : May 1, 2002
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Kitty Hawk
National Historic Site of First Powered Flight by Orville and Wilbur Wright on December 17, 1903.
The sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, are a mobile force of nature.
The stone marker monument and plaque show where the first flight took place on Dec. 17, 1903.
The path of the first flights marked out.
Sadly the Visitor Center is in temporary trailers. The main building was damaged by a storm in 2000. Next year is the centennial of the first flight. I hope the National Park Service is able to restore the damaged center.
If you go, there are modern copies of the two small buildings that the Wrights used for storing equipment and their quarters at Kitty Hawk..
View of the memorial hill from the ring road.
View from the memorial hill shows another measure of the height of the hill.
You can see a slight hint at the top of the photo above of the deep development of these outer islands with many resort homes. Cape Hatteras is to the south.
Several hundred yards to the south of the first flight marker is the memorial hill. The sand hill has been stabilized using prickly pear and certain grasses.
If you visit, please walk only on the paths, footsteps can damage the hill and the wind will erode the hill.
I was asked by a couple from Ohio to take their photograph in front of the monument and they returned the favour. Their mode of transportation for visiting was quite appropriate, flying their small plane from Florida up to Kitty Hawk and then home to Ohio. There is a small landing strip on the western edge of the site.
Photo above is of the sand dune shoreline just to the south of Kitty Hawk at Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina.
These photos give little indication of the deep development of this section of the Carolina coast. Many resort homes and hotels. The shot just above was taken from the beach stairs in front of the Ramada Inn.
- William J. Gibson -
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© William Joseph Gibson 2002
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