Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.: A Look At Streets Named After The Iconic Civil Rights Leader

As the U.S. celebrates the life of Martin Luther King Jr. with a national holiday, many Americans are marking the occasion at home on streets that bear his name, although some states have none. Almost 1,000 streets across the country have been named after the legendary civil rights activist, according to Derek H. Alderman, professor of geography at the University of Tennessee. His research has revealed that 955 streets have been named after King in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

A map of the U.S. marked with streets named after King was published by Bloomberg back in 2015. It showed the vast majority of them, around 80 percent, were located across the southeastern states. Georgia, King's home state, contained the highest number of streets named for him. However, nine states are thought not to have any streets named after Martin Luther King Jr., namely Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and South Dakota.

It's not just streets that memorialize King. Libraries, schools, parks, monuments, and scholarships also bear his name. States without roads named for King may honor his name in other ways. For example, Rhode Island has a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Newport and a Martin Luther King Elementary School in Providence.

Alderman noted there is occasionally local opposition to re-naming a street after King by those who fear the name will stigmatize their neighborhood or create racial tensions. But he added that supporters of name changes argue that they communicate the legitimacy of King's message and help educate a wider public on the relevance and resonance of civil rights and Black historical contributions.

They believe, he added, that such streets can be avenues—literally and figuratively—to continue the civil rights leader's work of battling racial and economic inequality and creating a sense of belonging and place in the U.S.

When asked whether all states were likely to have a street named after King in the future, Alderman replied that it was difficult to predict. On the one hand, we might expect that every state would honor Dr. King with a street at some point given the prominence of his legacy and how his teachings and activism continue to inform and inspire.

On the other hand, there are reasons to think that not every state will honor Dr. King with a street name. First, states can choose to honor other deserving civil rights figures through the renaming of streets and other places, and the street naming process continues to be a point of controversy in the now over 50 years since the first MLK Blvd appeared on the map.

In addition to the fact that not everyone interprets or embraces Dr. King's memory in the same way, there remains debate in communities over which street to name for him and how far that renamed road will be allowed to stretch beyond Black neighborhoods.

These unresolved issues are not just for a few states without an MLK road but for much of America, given that King's dream of racial integration remains unfinished business—even as we recognize the positive changes he helped bring to the nation.

King's name is honored not just in the U.S. but around the world. For example, a street in the town of Huntingdon in England is called Martin Luther King Close. An article on the U.S. government platform Share America revealed thousands of streets named in honor of King globally, in countries ranging from Argentina to Austria and Panama to Peru.

The life of the civil rights activist—who inspired the world with his peaceful campaign against racial segregation and discrimination until his assassination in 1968—has been marked with a federal day of remembrance in the U.S. since 1986. King's legacy and his famous "I have a dream" speech continue to inspire the current generation of activists, and in 1994 the goal of the annual holiday held in his honor was expanded to become a day of community service.

The day is often marked with parades and civil rights events, although many of these were scrapped over the past couple of years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But most events are back this year, with parades planned across the U.S.