Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park is located in Dayton, Ohio. Congress authorized the park on October 16, 1992. It commemorates the legacies of three of the region's most notable residents: the Wright brothers, and Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Through the invention of powered flight, Wilbur and Orville Wright made significant contributions to mankind. The Wright brothers were self-trained in the science and art of aviation. In their Dayton bicycle shop, they researched and built the world's first power-driven, heavier-than-air machine capable of free, controlled, and sustained flight. The Wrights also perfected their invention during 1904 and 1905, in Dayton.
Paul Laurence Dunbar was a gifted and prolific writer who achieved national and international acclaim in a literary world that was nearly exclusively reserved for whites. Dunbar produced a body of work that included novels, plays, short stories, lyrics, and more than 400 published poems. His work contributed to a growing social consciousness and cultural identity for African Americans in the United States.
There are four sites located in the park:
Each is owned and operated by different entities.