The Wright Brothers Cycle Shop is part of the National Aviation Heritage Area in Dayton OH, which is part of the National Park Service. During their lifetime, the Wright Brothers actually began business as a printing shop, and took to publishing their own newspapers and magazine. They then took up bicycles. They set up shop in five different places, closing down and moving as necessary. It was in their fifth (and last) bicycle shop that they designed and built the Wright Flyer. That shop was later dismantled brick by brick, transported to Detroit, and re-assembled there as part of the Henry Ford Museum. The Cycle Shop currently in the National Aviation Heritage Area is the fourth one occupied by the brothers; it is the only one of the original shops remaining. The bicycle shop occupied the ground floor, the printshop occupied the upper floor, and the Wrights lived in a house a couple blocks away.
Today, the Cycle Shop houses a museum display illustrating the lives of the Wright Brothers and the development of their flying machine.
The Wright Cycle Company
A display of bicycle history
The "penny-farthing" style of bicycle
The workshop. The Wrights used a variety of bicycle parts to make their Flyer, including a number of chains and sprockets.
The museum next door to the Cycle Shop incorporates the Hoover Block Building, where the Wrights had their print shop until they went into the bicycle business.
As young boys, the Wright Brothers built this chest of drawers for their mother.
The typesetting room in the Wright Print Shop, located on the second floor of the Hoover Block Building. The first floor was a grocery shop.
The printing room. The Brothers designed and built their own printing presses.
An original Wright Brothers bicycle
A replica of the 1902 Glider, built by the brothers to test their design.
A broken piece of an engine part, from the 1903 Flyer. The Brothers designed and built their own engine for the Flyer, as well as building their own wind tunnel to test various designs, including propellers.