Places Where You Can Walk in Martin Luther King Jr.’s Footsteps

9. St. Augustine, Florida

Site: Monson Motor Lodge Restaurant

Location: 32 Avenida Menendez. It’s a block and a half north of the city’s scenic drawbridge, the Bridge of Lions, across the parking lot from the present hotel’s lobby.

Then: On June 11, 1964, less than a month before Congress passed the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, King and 17 others were arrested after demanding service at the whites-only restaurant. King announced the day before that he would go to jail to fight the discrimination.

With television cameras on as they stood on the front steps, King politely asked the restaurant’s owner, James Brock, to admit him and his party of eight. Brock refused: “I would like to invite my many friends throughout the country to come to Monson’s. We expect to remain segregated.”

As more activists protested, white men and youths hurled bricks at state troopers and broke through a police line to punch and kick several of the demonstrators, a repetition of violence that had taken place several nights previously. A week later, protesters jumped into the whites-only pool at the motel; Brock dumped two gallons of hydrochloric acid in the water in an attempt to force them out.

Several historians cite the protests — and crowd reaction — at St. Augustine for smoothing passage of the Civil Rights Act. On June 19, 1964, one day after the pool “swim-in,” the U.S. Senate passed the legislation in a 73-27 vote breaking a filibuster that had lasted 60 working days. The House approved changes made in the Senate version, and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it into law July 2, 1964.

“I’m not so sure the Civil Rights Act would have been passed had [there] not been a St. Augustine,” one of the protesters, J.T. Johnson, told StoryCorps 50 years later.

Now: The motel and restaurant were demolished in 2003 after a local developer decided he wanted more luxe lodging than the motor hotel built in 1960. The Hilton St. Augustine Historic Bayfront Hotel was constructed on the site, and the steps where King was arrested are preserved and marked with a plaque.

When Martin Luther King Jr. accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, in 1964, he attended the banquet at the Grand Hotel. King holds the Nobel Peace Prize on Dec. 10, 1964.

Grand Hotel/Kyle Meyr / NTB / Alamy Stock Photo

10. Oslo, Norway

Site: The University of Oslo

Location: Karl Johans gate 47. The University of Oslo, known locally as the University Aula, is in the city’s center.

Then: King arrived in Oslo on Dec. 8, 1964. He was accompanied on this trip by a group of staff members from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and members of his family. At a news conference, King said the trip was the first time many in his party had been to Scandinavia, and they hoped to learn from the region’s democratic socialist traditions.

King accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on Dec. 10, 1964, in the University of Oslo’s auditorium, where the ceremony was held annually from 1947 to 1990. In his speech, he called the award a “profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time.” King was 35 years old when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. He donated all of the $54,123 prize money to civil rights organizations, such as the Gandhi Society for Human Rights and the SCLC.

Now: The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony is held in Oslo City Hall, but the University of Oslo is open to the public on the first Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. After the ceremony, King attended the Nobel Banquet at the Grand Hotel, which celebrated 150 years in business in 2024. The former American Embassy in Oslo, where King and his family were hosted for dinner and a reception during their trip, has been converted into a commercial building serving the public with a restaurant, cafe and wine bar, and rooftop terrace. 

The Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, was the site of “Bloody Sunday” in March 1965. Here, civil rights marchers cross the bridge on March 9, 1965. It was one of two attempts to cross the bridge led by Martin Luther King Jr.

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

11. Selma, Alabama

Site: The Edmund Pettus Bridge

Location: Crosses the Alabama River on U.S. Route 80 in Selma, at the intersection of Broad Street and Water Avenue. The bridge is within walking distance of Brown Chapel AME Church.

Then: On March 7, 1965, a day forever remembered as “Bloody Sunday,” approximately 600 civil rights marchers set out to walk the 54 miles from Selma to the state capital in Montgomery to advocate for voting rights. As they crossed the bridge over the Alabama River, state troopers and local police attacked them with batons and tear gas.

Two days later, King led a group of clergy members and marchers on a second attempt to reach the state capital, but they were met by law enforcement again. They knelt in prayer before turning around to comply with a pending federal court order. On March 25, 1965, King led demonstrators to the steps of the state capital in a successful march from Selma to Montgomery that crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The marches led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Now: The Edmund Pettus Bridge remains an active roadway in Selma and is open to the public year-round. The bridge was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2013, allowing visitors to walk across it as part of the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. The city also holds the annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee, a commemorative march that recognizes the civil rights activists’ journey from Selma to Montgomery.

The site of the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, is the home of the National Civil Rights Museum.

Ian G Dagnall/Alamy Stock Photo

12. Memphis, Tennessee

Site: Lorraine Motel

Location: 450 Mulberry St. The location is about six blocks, close to a half-mile, south of Beale Street, birthplace of the blues.

Then: At about 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968, King was assassinated while standing outside the second-floor room of a motel that marketed itself as upscale lodging for Black clientele during the Jim Crow era. He had arrived in Memphis the day before to prepare for a march on behalf of striking city sanitation workers, giving his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech to an overflowing crowd at Bishop Charles Mason Temple, a Pentecostal church at 938 Mason St.

After King was killed, the Lorraine Motel preserved Room 306 where he was staying and adjoining Room 307. The motel became single-room occupancy housing for low-income individuals before it closed for good in 1988. It was restored and opened in 1991 as the National Civil Rights Museum.

Now: The expanded museum includes a nearby building with interactive exhibits and historic collections. The building is undergoing renovations and plans to reopen in spring 2026. The Mason Temple, which was built in 1941 and was the largest Black-owned church building at the time, serves as the headquarters of the Church of God in Christ.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on Jan. 15, 2020. It has been updated to reflect new information.