Cleveland Court Apartments
Cleveland Court Apartments features a historic marker, which describes Rosa L. Parks’ arrest and subsequent journey to becoming the “mother of the civil rights movement.”
Rosa L. Parks and her husband, Raymond Parks, lived in the Cleveland Court apartments when she was arrested on the bus for refusing to give her seat to a white passenger Dec. 1, 1955, which kick started the Montgomery bus boycott.
The building that houses apartments 620-638 of this Montgomery Housing Authority apartment complex was Rosa and Raymond Parks’ Montgomery residence when Rosa Parks brought about the Montgomery bus boycott by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. The family moved to Detroit in 1957.
The red brick complex was built by the U.S. Housing Administration in the early 1940s and also bears historic markers from the state of Alabama and the city of Montgomery. Being on the National Register makes the building eligible for federal funding and requires review of any federally funded project that would alter or destroy the structure.
Home of E.D. Nixon 647 Clinton St.
Nixon was the NAACP official known as “The Father of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.”
This house was bombed in February 1956 in reaction to the boycott. Nixon founded the local chapter of the NAACP and was a leader and organizer of the bus boycott. He also led protests against disÂcrimination in voting, education and emÂployment. The state of Alabama historic marker was placed in front of Nixon’s home in 1986.
Mt. Zion AME Zion
(also known as Varick Chapel) 467 Holt St.
In this church, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, the Montgomery Improvement Association was formed, and it was here that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was named its president.
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The neighborhood surrounding Rosa L. Parks Avenue is rich in history, but even some residents aren’t aware of the landmarks in the area, all of them full of Civil Rights-era significance. Unless otherwise stated, these sites are open for curbside viewing only.