Wright Cycle Company Complex
16 S. Williams Street Dayton, OH 45402 MAP
PHONE: 937.225.7705
WEBSITE: www.nps.gov/daav
The Wright Cycle Company Complex includes the Wright Cycle Company building, a plaza, and the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center. The complex is located in the partially restored neighborhood of the Wright brothers and poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.
The Wright Cycle Company, 22 S. Williams Street, was the fourth bicycle shop operated by the Wrights and is the only one still standing on its original site. The Wrights were operating this shop at the time when their latent interest in flying turned to active research. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. Aviation Trail restored the building in the 1980s, initiating a process of rediscovery and restoration in the West Dayton neighborhood.
The interpretive center occupies the renovated Hoover Block building where Wilbur and Orville started their careers as printers and operated Wright & Wright Job Printers. They published newspapers for the West Side population. They also printed the Dayton Tattler, written by Paul Laurence Dunbar. The Hoover Block was designated as part of the West Third Street National Register Historic District in 1988.
Besides the interpretive center, the Hoover Block also houses the Aviation Trail Inc. Visitor Center and Parachute Museum. The Parachute Museum tells the story of another Dayton aviation invention, the freefall Parachute.
The surrounding Wright-Dunbar Village includes several other historic sites, including the original location of the Wright family home, the bicycle shop where the Wrights invented the airplane, Orville Wright’s laboratory, and the restored home of Paul Laurence Dunbar. (The original Wright home and bicycle shop are now in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich. Orville Wright’s laboratory was demolished in the 1970s.)
The National Aviation Heritage Area’s offices are in a restored house next to the cycle shop at 26 S. Williams, and the National Park Service’s Dayton offices are in another restored house at 30 S. Williams. Several new houses in the neighborhood have been built to match the late nineteenth century style of the neighborhood, including a replica of the Wright family home across the street from the original location.
Hours
DAILY: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
CLOSED: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day
Admission
Free.
National Park activities and events
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