Kill Devil Hills is situated in the middle of the Outer Banks between Kitty Hawk and Nags Head. The town is proud to be the site of the first heavier-than-air powered flight. The Wright Brothers National Memorial celebrates the four flights that Wilbur and Orville Wright took at the base of the hill back on December 17, 1903.

Kill Devil Hills Attractions

The name Kill Devil Hills dates back to the Colonial era. There are many stories of where the name came from but one of the more interesting stories dates back to a time when many of the ships were transporting barrels of rum. When a ship foundered, local wreckers would scavenge what they could of the ship’s cargo before it sank, hiding their pilfered rum behind the same large sand dunes where the Wright Brothers would perform glider tests, before flying their first plane from level ground nearby. The locals said that the rum was strong enough to “kill the devil,” so the dunes became known as “Kill Devil Hills.