In 2002, the popular Arts and Entertainment Television network assembled a panel to determine the most influential inventions of the 20th century. No. 2 on the list pointed to Orville and Wilbur Wright, inventors of the airplane.
Yet, if had not been for the efforts of a dedicated group of volunteers in Henry County during the 1980s, the birthplace of Wilbur Wright might have been sold to the highest bidder.
The house where Wilbur was born partially burned in 1884 and lay in disrepair for many years. The state took possession in 1929 and razed the house in 1955. A replica, using as many of the original timbers as possible, was constructed in 1973. Called “aviation’s neglected cradle” at one time, grand plans for the Wright birthplace included an airport on the site, equipped with a beacon, terrace and restaurant.
The project died because officials realized the land was unsuitable for an airport because of natural barriers to safety.
It later became a state historical site and even featured an astronaut, Eugene Cernan, as a guest speaker. But in the 1980s, budgets got tight. The rural location of the facility made it hard to find. There was once talk of moving the house to Summit Lake State Park, which was easier to find and might ensure more visitors. But it was the site, not the house, that was historic. Eventually, state officials said they no longer had funding to maintain the area and talked about selling the property.
If a group of local volunteers had not come forward, the historic site probably would today be in the hands of a private landowner.
But thanks to continued volunteer efforts, this off-the-beaten-path site has been visited by people from 36 states and 14 countries, just since April 1 of this year alone, according to Thornton McKay, the gift shop and grounds manager at the facility. People from as far away as Australia, South Korea and Sweden have come to see where the inventor of flight was born and marvel in the replica plane featured on the grounds.
A June 11, 1909, article in the New Castle Courier written by Milton Wright, Wilbur’s father, provides some interesting perspective on the brief but important role the Henry County area played in the life of this family.
Milton Wright, himself, was born not far from Henry County, in a Rush County log cabin on Nov. 17, 1818. He was ordained to the ministry in the United Brethren in Christ Church at age 22.
As a pastor, he become well-known throughout the area, working in Lewisville, New Castle, New Lisbon, Hagerstown, Dublin, Straughn, Honey Creek and Middletown areas.
Wright’s ministry included service at the New Castle United Brethren Church, which held meetings in an old schoolhouse. When the congregation built a new church, Wilbur and Orville Wright donated $250 for a stained glass window in honor of their father. That church was torn down in the early 1990s. Today, that stained glass window is mounted in a case at the Wright Birthplace museum.
On April 13, 1865, Milton Wright and family “moved to a little country home near Millville.” Elias Bowman, Henry Shults, Jacob Kesler, Phillip Hedrick and Cornelius Horning were their neighbors.
“It was at this nice little home, two and a half miles northeast of Millville, that Wilbur Wright was born April 16, 1867.”
A newspaper article from the archives of The Henry County Historical Society said “there is strong evidence that both of the brothers were influenced tremendously by their boyhood experiences in the Hoosier state.”
One such story is as follows:
“The Wright family was living in Dublin, Wayne County, when the father purchased a flying toy, powered by rubber bands, for Wilbur and Orville. Fascinated by the device, they soon tore it apart in an effort to learn what made it fly. That was the beginning of many experiments which led to one of the world’s greatest inventions.
“They were ordinary boys in an ordinary family in an ordinary Hoosier village and they were inquisitive. But it seemed as though some type of inner guidance shown in them, and that they belonged not to Dublin, New Castle, or Richmond or to any other community, but to the world.”
In his newspaper article, Wright said there were early signs that Wilbur was no ordinary kid.
“At 15 months, when turned into a room, he seemed to see all the mischief available in it at a glance, and always found the greatest first.”
Recently, another big crowd was on hand for the 20th annual Wilbur Wright festival. Model planes whirred overhead. People toured the museum and saw an exact replica of the plane built by the Wright Brothers and flown at Kitty Hawk, N.C. The crowd attending was so good, vendors sold out of food.
It was yet another testament to the spirit of people like Marvin and June Luellen, Dan Conway and many, many others, who, like the Wright brothers, did not give up on a dream.
Thornton McKay pointed out that many of the museum visitors are people from outside Henry County. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is $2 for students, $4 for adults.
Darrel Radford is a staff writer for The Courier Times and on the board of the Henry County Historical Society. p