Kill devil hills

First in Flight

Kill Devil Hills is known to students of aviation the world over as the location of the first manned flight, achieved by the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilber Wright. A sight of worldwide importance is the Wright Brothers National Memorial, commemorating the Wright Brothers’ achievement in flight.  The visitor center allows visitors to learn more about the Wright Brothers historical flight through exhibits.

Kills Devil Hills has one of the more unusual town names in the region. While the history surrounding the name is not exactly clear, there are several theories. The waters off the coast of the Outer Banks have always been notoriously dangerous for ships to navigate due to frequently shifting sands under the ocean. For this reason, ships often ran aground and wrecked off the coast. One such story says that a case of rum washed ashore from a shipwreck and locals said that the rum “was strong enough to kill the devil.” Another story says that it was so hard to navigate around this area that sailors said navigating it was difficult enough to “kill the devil.”

Kill Devil Hills has a similar road layout with the bypass road and beach road noted earlier in the section on Kitty Hawk.  Kill Devil Hills has many public beaches with nearby public parking making it another easy town for day trippers to experience the beach.