Kitty Hawk (pop. 3,272) is a historic town in North Carolina that became the site of the world’s first powered airplane flight. In December 1903, the brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully tested their biplane, the Flyer, on coastal dunes outside the town.
Kitty Hawk lies on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, a series of barrier islands (long, narrow islands parallel to the shoreline) along the Atlantic coast. Kitty Hawk Bay is south of the town. To the west are the Currituck and Albemarle sounds. The Wright Memorial Bridge connects the Kitty Hawk area to the North Carolina mainland. Tourism is the area’s leading industry, and beaches are a top attraction. Most of the Kitty Hawk Woods Coastal Reserve, an area of marshland and forests, lies within the town boundaries. It supports a variety of wildlife.
Indians who spoke an Algonquian language lived in the Kitty Hawk area long before English explorers arrived in the 1580’s. Early maps labeled the area Chickahauk or Chickahawk, after a local Indian word. The name Kitty Hawk began to appear in official records during the 1700’s, when a fishing and farming village grew there. The community’s first post office opened in 1878. Kitty Hawk was incorporated as a town in 1981.
In 1903, the Wright brothers conducted their flight tests on the dunes of Kill Devil Hills, about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) south of Kitty Hawk. The Wrights chose the area for its steady winds and soft sand dunes. The Wright Brothers National Memorial is near the test site.
