Aviation Trail, Inc.
A non-profit corporation in partnership with the
National Park Service
to promote Aviation Heritage
in the Dayton region
Home of the largest
private parachute collection.*
The Organization: Aviation Trail, Inc.
As long as men fly...wherever they journey through space...their flights began in Dayton, Ohio, The Birthplace of Aviation!
Originally envisioned as a marketing effort, the group's first project was the development of a tourist Aviation Trail consisting of 16 aviation related sites laid out as a self-guided tour in a brochure published in 1981. When research for the brochure uncovered two little-known original Wright Brothers buildings still standing next to each other on their original sites in Dayton's West Side, the group's mission soon expanded to include preservation projects as well.
Under the expansion mission, Aviation Trail, Inc. acquired the two historic Wright Brothers buildings in 1982, with the goal of restoring the buildings, known as the Hoover Block (Site 1) and The Wright Cycle Company (Site 3), and turning the property into a Wright Brothers museum complex. Furthermore, their eventual goal was to also restore the surrounding deteriorating neighborhood to the way it was when Wilbur and Orville Wright lived and worked and invented the airplane there.
Aviation Trail, Inc. and Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Visitor Center.
Located in the Aviation Trail, Inc. and Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Visitor Center.
Aviation Trail, Inc. and Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Visitor Center.
Today, Wright-Dunbar Village is the realization of that dream, helped along with the support of several organizations after Aviation Trail, Inc. restored The Wright Cycle Company building. Especially helpful was the City of Dayton, who had planned to clear the land in order to redevelop it as a typical urban renewal project, then switched to a preservation and restoration plan after they discovered the historic importance of the area.
The Organization: Aviation Trail, Inc.
As long as men fly...wherever they journey through space...their flights began in Dayton, Ohio, The Birthplace of Aviation!
Aviation Trail, Inc. was formed as a non-profit corporation in 1981 to promote Dayton's aviation heritage that began with the invention of the airplane by Wilbur and Orville Wright in 1903 and continues on to today's aerospace projects of the future now under development at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Originally envisioned as a marketing effort, the group's first project was the development of a tourist Aviation Trail consisting of 16 aviation related sites laid out as a self-guided tour in a brochure published in 1981. When research for the brochure uncovered two little-known original Wright Brothers buildings still standing next to each other on their original sites in Dayton's West Side, the group's mission soon expanded to include preservation projects as well.
Under the expansion mission, Aviation Trail, Inc. acquired the two historic Wright Brothers buildings in 1982, with the goal of restoring the buildings, known as the Hoover Block (Site 1) and The Wright Cycle Company (Site 3), and turning the property into a Wright Brothers museum complex. Furthermore, their eventual goal was to also restore the surrounding deteriorating neighborhood to the way it was when Wilbur and Orville Wright lived and worked and invented the airplane there.
Restorations continued in 1992 when the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park was established. The National Park Service now operates the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and Aviation Trail Visitor Center in partnership with Aviation Trail.
Today, Wright-Dunbar Village is the realization of that dream, helped along with the support of several organizations after Aviation Trail, Inc. restored The Wright Cycle Company building. Especially helpful was the City of Dayton, who had planned to clear the land in order to redevelop it as a typical urban renewal project, then switched to a preservation and restoration plan after they discovered the historic importance of the area.
A Look Back:
Click the image on the right to download the booklet about the first fifteen years of Aviation Trail, Inc. from 1981 to 1996.
Aviation Trail, Inc. continues to promote the various trail sites in the area that have unique and significant importance in this rich aviation heritage.
See how to follow the trail and earn
a Wilbear Wright teddy bear.
CLICK HERE for the Trail Sites page.
®
The Purpose of ATI
1. Identify and preserve the Dayton/Miami Valley aviation heritage.
2. Engage in promotional and educational activities to create an awareness of the area's identification with aviation and of its place in aviation history.
3. Stimulate the area's economic development through aviation-related capital projects.
Aviation Trail, Inc. is governed by a Board of Trustees of no less than 15 members and no more than 20.
A Board of Advisors with no membership limitation was established in 1982.
The original incorporating trustees were:
Board of Trustees
Jim Alexander
Paul Brown
Dick Baughman
John Dussault
E. George Ferguson
Ed Hamlyn
Jim Jacobs
Harold Johnson
Mary Ann Johnson
J. H. Meyer, M. D.
Amy Salaverria
Doris Scott
Gerald Sharkey
Marian S. Simmons
Colonel Richard Uppstrom
Read Viemeister
George J. Wedekind Jr.
Mel Weinberg
