The Area - Kill Devil Hills

The Town of Kill Devil Hills received its municipal charter March 6, 1953.  The site where Wilbur and Orville Wright successfully made four flights at the base of the big hill that is now a part of the National Parks Wright Brothers National Memorial is the most famous attraction.

Kill Devil Hills has become a very popular family beach location. Of the Dare County beaches, Kill Devil Hills is the largest municipality in Dare County with a year-round population of nearly 7,000 residents and it sits geographically center of the towns on the northern beaches of the County.

Origin of Name:

The name Kill Devil Hills can be dated back to the colonial era. Shipwrecks were common during that period, and many of those ships were transporting barrels of rum. When shipwreck occurred, locals would scavenge the ship and hide the rum they found behind the same large sand dunes where the Wright Brothers later flew the first plane. The locals said that the rum was strong enough to &quot;kill the devil,&quot; so the dunes where they would hide the rum were nicknamed &#39;Kill Devil Hills.?</p>