The Wright Brothers National Memorial sits at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, where the first powered flights of 1903 took place. It was authorized in 1927. Robert Rodgers and Alfred Easton Poor of New York designed the tower, and the design was selected on February 14, 1930. It was dedicated on November 19, 1932.
The memorial is a granite tower 60 feet (18.29 meters) tall, on top of a 90-foot (27-meter) hill. It used 1,200 tons of granite. A marine beacon, similar to a lighthouse's, crowns the tower. Markers show where the four 1903 flights began and ended. The style is Art Deco.
The National Park Service has managed the site since August 10, 1933. Ehrman Mitchell and Romaldo Giurgola designed the modern visitor center, part of the Mission 66 program. It holds a museum and replicas of the 1903 Flyer and 1902 glider.
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