A former neighbor of mine passed along some fascinating news to me yesterday. I'll go into a little more detail, but for the TL:DR version: I lived for two years in a house that was briefly the boyhood home of the Wright Brothers!
The Wright family is most commonly associated with Dayton, Ohio, but in the late 1800s they moved all over the Midwest, chiefly in Indiana and Ohio. Their father, Milton Wright, was a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren (a Protestant sect that allowed marriage and children in its higher ranks), and his church assignments took the family from town to town, sometimes every few years.
When Milton Wright was appointed leader of the United Brethren Ministries west of the Mississippi River in 1878, the family moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. My research shows they lived in at least two houses during their three years there; they moved on to Indiana in 1881. One of the houses they lived in was located close to downtown Cedar Rapids, but sometime in the early 1900s, the house was moved to its current location at 1424 A Avenue NE, one block north of 1st Avenue NE, a major artery through Cedar Rapids then and now.
Wilbur Wright was born in 1867, and Orville in 1871, so both brothers would have been young boys when they lived in the house in question. There's a family story that Milton brought home a toy helicopter as a gift to his sons while they lived in Cedar Rapids, and they dissembled it and put it back together perfectly!
At some point in time, the single-family dwelling was split into four apartments, and when I moved there in July of 1993 I lived in Apartment D on the second floor (if you follow the link at the end of this essay, in the photos my apartment was to the right of the main entrance (as viewed from the street) and upstairs. The two big windows were my bedroom, which was enormous!
I only lived in Cedar Rapids for two years; I moved back to central Iowa in June of 1995. That's not to say my time there wasn't eventful; the floods of '93 hit shortly after I moved there, and I remember my landlord telling me there was seven feet of water in the basement! That October, I made a major life decision and started coming out to selected friends and family members, and right before Thanksgiving my appendix perforated, giving me an infection it took me weeks to recover from, and the only surgery I've had to date. I also found a very good friend in my downstairs neighbor lady Marge, who I'm happy to say I was able to reconnect with through her son Les just last month! I remember drinking Busch Light longnecks either in her apartment or around a bonfire in the yard (right about where the red pickup truck is parked in the photos in the accompanying article).
I don't know who owns the house now. I had an awesome landlord back in the 90s, and he never mentioned anything about the history of the house--but then again, he may not have known. Sadly, I discovered in my research that he passed away in 2018, shortly after his 85th birthday. Perhaps someone in his family still owns it? His obituary listed several children and grandchildren. Whatever the case, I hope to have a beer with Walt when it's my turn to step to the other side. He was a good man.
Anyway, that's my little story of a random brush with a little slice of American history. I love the thought of little Wilbur and Orville dismantling that toy helicopter in what would someday be my living room! That's just random speculation, but you never know.
Many, many thanks to Les and Marge, who were my awesome Cedar Rapids neighbors way way way back in the day, and for directing me to this fascinating historical nugget!
Finally, here's the link to the original Facebook post from a Cedar Rapids photographic history page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1089282848633836/permalink/1414595306102587
#wrightbrothers #wright_brothers #wilburwright #orvillewright #wilbur_wright #orville_wright #cedarrapids #cedar_rapids #iowa #history #americanhistory #american_history
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