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Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park

Atlanta | Georgia

What We Did
Linked key properties in Martin Luther King Jr.’s childhood neighborhood to create a cohesive historic park.

Our Goal
Preserve Martin Luther King Jr.’s history and legacy for the public to experience for years to come.

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An african-american woman holding two children in front of a house.

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park by the Numbers

20+

Years of park development

Properties acquired

1M+

Visitors annually

Preserving MLK’s Origin Story

Public lands deliver an obvious benefit of physical space for everyone to enjoy. But when an important piece of history is woven into the picture, the meaningfulness and spirituality of that land increase exponentially. Exhibit A: Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park.

Trust for Public Land’s work here began in the early 1980s, shortly after the area was designated a National Historic Site. At the time, the National Park Service (NPS) owned no land or buildings. The King family had granted NPS access to the home where Dr. King was born, but the surrounding community was at risk, as urban renewal projects threatened to swallow up the area.

Members of Congress asked Trust for Public Land to help acquire and preserve the buildings around King’s childhood home. Preserving these buildings would allow NPS to tell the full story of Dr. King’s life by allowing visitors to experience the community as he would have remembered it.

Trust For Public Land quickly purchased five well-worn, single-family houses near the King home, saving them from demolition. The historic houses were restored and became the building blocks of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park.

Over 20 years, Trust for Public Land has helped purchase more than a dozen properties—expanding the footprint and presence of the park. One of those properties was an abandoned factory, which saw a particularly moving transformation into a visitor center just in time for the 1996 Olympic Games. The property also allowed the creation of a trail that seamlessly connects the park with the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.

Today, more than a million visitors a year tour the park and the nearby King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, experiencing public land in a way that digs far deeper than anything physical—uniquely demonstrating the emotional and spiritual benefits that lands can provide.

About the Project

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How Preserving Civil Rights History Shapes Today’s Fight for Racial Justice

Judy Forte says there are many people who don’t know about the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “We are taught certain facts in our classrooms, at home, and in our communities about Dr. King’s life,” she says. “But a lot of times people are just unaware of the details that make Dr. King human.”

Forte should know. As the longtime superintendent at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta, she’s charged with taking great care of the facts of his life—whether identifying the historically accurate shade of paint on the wall inside sanctuary where Dr. King preached his first sermon, or listening intently to the living legends of the movement who share their own stories and evolving wisdom with the hundreds of thousands who visit the park each year. “I’ve seen it so many times: when our visitors leave the park, they depart with a fuller, more accurate understanding the significant role Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. played in the American civil rights movement,” Forte says.

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Where MLK's Story Begins

Auburn Avenue—known colloquially as “Sweet Auburn”—is the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. and where he spent the first 12 years of his life. TPL helped preserve the area’s architecture and character so visitors can experience the neighborhood as Dr. King would have remembered it, connecting them more deeply to his legacy.

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Preserving Black History and Culture

From reconnecting tribes and Indigenous communities to their ancestral lands to preserving the cultural sites tied to Black American history, we’re dedicated to building a more equitable and inclusive future—starting with the outdoors.

Explore Our Black History and Culture Work