A tour of the historic West Hunter Street Baptist Church, 775 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW, Atlanta will be hosted 6-7 p.m. Feb. 16 by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.
Built in 1906, the Gothic Revival stone sanctuary is best known for its connection with the late Rev. Dr. Ralph David Abernathy Sr., who served as the church’s pastor from 1961 to 1973.
Since then, the church congregation has relocated to Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard.
Located on what was previously named “Hunter Street,” the former church building was in the heart of a thriving African American community and a key rallying place during the Civil Rights Movement.
A co-creator of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Abernathy became SCLC president following the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and served as SCLC president until 1977 when he retired and became SCLC president emeritus.
The World War II veteran died in 1990 from two blood clots that traveled to his heart and lungs, a few weeks following his 64th birthday.
Now owned by the Ralph David Abernathy III Foundation, the property has received funding from the Historic Preservation Fund African American Civil Rights Program of the National Park Service and is undergoing rehabilitation.
See this in-progress project, and learn more about the site’s unique history.
Member tickets are $20, and nonmember tickets are $25.
For more information, visit GeorgiaTrust.org/tours-events/insider-tours-and-events.
Buy tickets at GeorgiaTrust.org/ticket/historic-west-hunter-street-baptist-church-insider-tour.
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