The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park covers about 35 acres and includes several buildings in Atlanta, Georgia related to the life and work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Within the park is his boyhood home and the original Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church where King was baptized and both his father Martin Luther King Sr. and he were pastors.
The King Birth Home is located at 501 Auburn Avenue in the Sweet Auburn Historic District . Built in 1895, it sits about a block east of Ebenezer Baptist Church. King’s maternal grandparents, Reverend Adam Daniel (A.D.) Williams, who was pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, and his wife, Jennie Williams, bought the house for $3,500 in 1909. In 1926, when King’s father married Alberta Williams, the couple moved into the house, where King Jr. was born in 1929.
The King family lived in the house until 1941. It was then converted into a two-family dwelling. The Rev. A. D. Williams King, Dr. King’s brother, lived on the second floor in the 1950s and early 1960s.
The visitor center at 449 Auburn Avenue was built in 1996 and features the multimedia exhibit Courage To Lead, which follows the parallel paths of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. Visitors can also walk down a stylized “Freedom Road”. The Children of Courage exhibit, geared towards children, tells the story of the children of the Civil Rights Movement with a challenge to our youth today. Video programs are presented on a continuing basis and there is a staffed information desk.