Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park

The park consists of five historically significant sites within a two-block area along Auburn Street in Atlanta. Each site offers self-guided tours. Through photographs and exhibit panels, visitors are introduced to the people, institutions, and ideas that shaped Martin Luther King, Jr.’s moral and intellectual development.

• The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park Visitors’ Center consists mainly of exhibits, videos, murals, and a few hands-on displays illustrating the racially oppressive environment of the segregated South, particularly its impact on the African American community. The tour highlights Dr. King’s enduring commitment to America’s Founding principles despite these oppressive conditions. It was this commitment that gave birth to the multiracial civil rights movement. At a leisurely pace, the tour lasts about 45 minutes.
• Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birth home is located at 501 Auburn Ave. He was born in an upstairs bedroom on January 15, 1929. Young “M.L.” lived in this home with his parents, maternal grandparents, sister, brother, uncle, and great-aunt for his first 12 years. The Martin Luther King, Jr., birth home has been closed to visitors since 2023 due to an extensive rehabilitation project. The site is surrounded by fencing, which is adorned with large mural-sized pictures and captions depicting the home’s interior.
• Historic Fire Station No. 6 is located just down the street from Dr. King’s childhood home and was frequently visited by him during the 1930s. Built in 1894 in the Romanesque Revival style, the station remained in operation for 100 years. In the 1960s, it became one of Atlanta’s first racially integrated firehouses before closing in 1991. Historic Fire Station No. 6 features a short video about the historic African American commercial district known as “Sweet Auburn.” The video, along with photographs displayed on the station’s walls, highlights various African American businesses and notable figures from 19th-century Atlanta. The family-friendly fire station also showcases a restored 1927 American LaFrance Fire Engine—a model that was standard at the time.
• Ebenezer Baptist Church, built between 1914 and 1922, was the spiritual and community center for the Williams–King family. Over the course of nearly 80 years, first Dr. King’s maternal grandfather, Rev. Adam Daniel “A.D.” Williams, and then his father, Rev. Martin Luther “Daddy” King, Sr., served as pastors. In 1960, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., returned to Atlanta to join his father as co-pastor. Ebenezer Baptist Church features the restored 1960s sanctuary, where visitors can sit in the pews, see the pulpit from which Dr. King preached, and listen to his recorded sermons. Exhibits throughout the church tell a compelling story of Dr. King’s optimism and the vital role faith, family, and tradition played in his struggle for justice and color-blind equality in the United States.
• The King Center’s Freedom Hall features biographical exhibits on Dr. King, Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, and Mahatma Gandhi. Adjacent to the center is the reflecting pool that surrounds the tombs of Dr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr. The King Center’s Freedom Hall houses a gift shop, bookstore, and resource center on the first floor. Upstairs, visitors can view biographical memorabilia of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (including his pastoral robe and sash) and Coretta Scott King. The King Center is an independent nonprofit 501(c)3 and is not owned by the National Park Service. It was established by Coretta Scott King in 1968 as a living memorial to her husband’s legacy.