Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church - A Young Pastor's Pulpit

Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on Montgomery: Legacy and Civil Rights Road, a free self-guided tour.

This brick church, finished in 1889 just down Dexter Avenue from the Capitol, was founded in 1877 by formerly enslaved and free Black Montgomerians. In 1954 it called a 25-year-old preacher named Martin Luther King Jr. as its pastor. It was his first church.

When word of Rosa Parks's arrest spread, Jo Ann Robinson and the Women's Political Council copied and handed out thousands of leaflets overnight calling for a one-day bus boycott. On the evening of December 2, 1955, local ministers and leaders met in this church to back the plan. The one-day protest stretched to more than a year, and King, chosen to lead the new Montgomery Improvement Association, guided it from his office in the basement here.

King served Dexter until 1960, and the church took his name in 1978. It is a National Historic Landmark. Tours run on a set schedule, so check the church's website before you go. Even from the sidewalk, notice how close this pulpit stands to the seat of state power.

Getting here: Walk east along Montgomery Street to Court Square, then up Dexter Avenue to the church at number 454, about 12 minutes.

Did you know?: On October 3, 1887, the church hosted the first student registration for the school that became Alabama State University.

Photo op: Stand across Dexter Avenue to fit the brick front and its steps in one frame, with the Capitol dome just up the street.

More on Wikipedia: Dexter Avenue Baptist Church · Martin Luther King Jr. · Jo Ann Robinson · Montgomery Improvement Association

Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church - A Young Pastor's Pulpit

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