The first factory to manufacture airplanes.
Note: On March 26, 2023, a significant fire damaged the historic integrity of Wright Company factory buildings. The buildings are owned by the City of Dayton and were under a multi-year acquisition by the National Park Service at the time of the fire. As of March 2024, the extent of the fire damage is still unknown. The National Aviation Heritage Alliance is committed to sharing the nationally significant story of the Wright Company. The board and staff will continue to support the City of Dayton and National Park Service as those organizations explore the multitude of paths forward at the factory site.
The Wright Company factory was the first in America built for the purpose of manufacturing airplanes. The Wright brothers formed the Wright Company in November 1909. The company operated briefly in rented space until the factory’s Building 1 was completed in 1910. Building 2 was erected in 1911.
The Wright Company produced approximately 120 airplanes in 13 different models. It introduced industrial aviation to several individuals who later became aviation leaders. Among them were Frank H. Russell (1878–1947) and Grover C. Loening (1888–1976). Orville sold his interest in the company in 1915, following Wilbur’s death in 1912.
The Wright Company buildings changed hands several times. The Dayton-Wright Airplane Company bought the buildings during World War I to make fittings for military aircraft that Dayton-Wright produced at its main plant in Moraine. General Motors acquired Dayton-Wright in September of 1919, but didn’t stay in the airplane business. In 1922, GM began to sell a steering wheel invented by Dayton-Wright engineer Harvey D. Geyer, a former Wright Company employee. Geyer’s steering wheel used a new manufacturing process to produce a superior wheel. The product was so successful that GM formed a new division around it—the Inland Manufacturing Division.
As the plant grew, Inland added buildings and enclosed the spaces between Buildings 1, 2 and three newer buildings were built in matching architectural style. The factory expanded over the decades as thousands of workers turned out auto parts, first as Inland, later as Delco, and finally as Delphi. Delphi closed in 2008.
