Sweet Auburn Walking District

No traditional Peach State student holiday would be complete without a walking tour of Atlanta’s celebrated Sweet Auburn District, a mile-and-a-half long landmark neighborhood strung along Auburn Avenue, just east of booming Downtown Atlanta-an area rich with the history, heritage and achievements of Atlanta’s prominent black citizens. Wander the very streets where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born and raised and where many African Americans established flourishing businesses, congregations, and social organizations despite the egregiously inconvenient and unfair barriers of enforced segregation. The six-square block, traditionally black neighborhood housed Atlanta’s affluent and educated African American community from the turn of the century through the ‘60s; today, it hosts various components of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, which includes a captivating visitor’s center allowing guests to explore MLK’s crucial role in the Civil Rights movement, the restored King Birth Home, burial sites of the beloved Dr. and his wife at King Plaza, the Ebenezer Baptist Church Museum, where he co-pastored with his father and the International Walk of Fame – an interactive memorial created from the bronzed footprints of influential Civil Rights activists. The Atlanta Daily World building is the headquarters of the country’s first successful African-American daily newspaper; a few doors down, the APEX Museum illustrates and illuminates the history of Sweet Auburn, the civil rights era, and the African-American experience. Another must-see landmark is Fire Station No. 6 , at the corner of Auburn and Boulevard – a Romanesque Revival building constructed in 1894 and one of the city’s eight original firehouses; inside are an antique fire engine and an interesting exhibit detailing the desegregation of the department. Hungry groups will delight in an authentic taste of the old South at the renowned Sweet Auburn Curb Market – one of Atlanta’s premier farmer’s markets since 1918 and the oldest public market in the city, tendering locals and tourists alike, fresh produce, baked goods, meats and dairy from local and organic farms and vendors as well as delectable, slow-smoked Southern specialties served with scrumptious sides from local favorite Sweet Auburn Barbecue. Tall, cool glass of fresh mint sweet tea, anyone?