MLK had ties to Florida, visited the area several times during his time in the spotlight

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spent a lot of time in Florida, especially in 1964 leading up to the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

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During the 13 years King was in the national spotlight, he spent some time in St. Johns County. He made trips across Florida to guide youth protests in St. Augustine, and the home he rented there was shot up in a drive-by shooting.

In 1964, King and others were eventually arrested while trying to eat at the Monson Motor Lodge restaurant located in St. Augustine. Over the refusal of Dr. King, a 17-year-old Black teen jumped into the swimming pool there.

Nationally, Americans watched news clips of police chasing Black students along segregated beaches and a hotel owner pouring acid into a pool after the teen and other protestors jumped in. The establishment was demolished in 2003. It’s now the Bayfront Hilton.

In Miami, Dr. King talked strategy while relaxing in a pool. It would be there, at Liberty City Hotel, that King presented a version of his “I Have a Dream” speech nearly 3 years before he famously delivered it from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington.

Read: King family, nation honors 56th anniversary of MLK’s assassination

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