Trust for Public Land Transfers Key Tract on MLK, Jr. Block to National Park Service
Celebration of Over 30 Years of Support to Preserve the MLK Jr. National Historic Site

ATLANTA, GA (October 12, 2009) – Another slice of Atlanta history will remain intact thanks to the Trust for Public Land’s transfer of one of the last privately owned properties on Auburn Avenue in the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site to the National Park Service. In tribute to the era when the community was a thriving residential and commercial magnet, the groups will commemorate with a 1930’s-style neighborhood celebration on October 28 at 10 a.m.

“This transaction represents TPL’s continued commitment and effort both to preserve the neighborhood’s cultural heritage and to recapture the vitality and distinctiveness the Auburn Avenue area enjoyed during Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life,” said Will Rogers, TPL’s National President.

To celebrate, Rogers will be in attendance from San Francisco to commemorate the ownership transfer of 530 Auburn Avenue and the partnership with NPS. Judy Forte, National Parks Service Superintendent for the MLK, Jr. National Historic Site, will accept the key from Rogers. 

“Following Coretta Scott King’s leadership in establishing the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, TPL emerged as an early advocate for preserving the neighborhood that surrounds Dr. King’s Birth Home,” said Forte. “From their purchase of the first five homes in 1980 to the recent acquisition of 530 Auburn Avenue, TPL’s involvement has been critical to the site’s growth and development. This important National Historic Site stands today as an example of the impact of TPL’s conservation work across the U.S.”

“The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site is terrifically important,” said Helen Tapp, TPL’s Georgia Director. “Visitors from all around the globe come here to witness firsthand the neighborhood that raised a man who led a movement that changed the world; who won a Nobel Peace Prize; and who still inspires.”

Representatives of the King family, the City of Atlanta, the Historic District Development Corporation and Ebenezer Baptist Church will also be recognized for their contributions toward preservation within the historic site. Other key invited guests include U.S. Congressman John Lewis, Art Frederick, Deputy Director for the Southeast Region of the National Park Service and City of Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. Guests will enjoy old fashioned cakes, Coca-Colas and lemonade and take part in guided tours of the historic buildings and historic activity stations that recall the 1930’s era. 

To date, the Trust for Public Land has spent more than two million dollars and has doubled the number of NPS holdings within the MLK, Jr. National Historic Site to ensure that the character of Sweet Auburn and the neighborhood that nurtured Dr. King and his vision will be preserved forever. The historic site is one of the few “livable” national parks, a term coined by The National Park Service signifying that the site offers both historical and cultural importance, as well as a lively and productive neighborhood for private citizens. 

Auburn Avenue History
When Dr. King lived on Auburn Avenue in the 1930’s, it was a thriving African American community that defied the confines of social and economic segregation. There was more diversity of profession in the one mile of street than any other African American street in the south. African American civic and political leader, John Wesley Dobbs, described the street at the time as “paved in gold,” and coined the area’s name “Sweet Auburn.” 

Auburn Avenue was like a grand lady,” recalled one journalist. “In her prime she was the talk of the town – young, vivacious, and beautiful. Everyone loved her, respected her, and wooed her.”

Integration created the opportunity for African Americans to live and shop anywhere, causing residents to move away. By 1980, Sweet Auburn was mired with vacant lots and dilapidated homes – decrepit and drug ridden. Any semblance of the community in which Martin Luther King, Jr. grew up had largely disappeared. 

TPL recognized that the world was in danger of losing a cultural legacy if the properties where Dr. King grew up were not acquired. Shortly after, work began on a long-term stewardship. In the late 1970’s, TPL purchased five rundown homes along Auburn Avenue, the same block as the birthplace and boyhood home of Dr. King. 

Those critical purchases became the core of a new site in King’s honor, and in October 1980, Congress created the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. Over the next 20 years, TPL assisted in the purchase of over a dozen other properties.