CAMDEN, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — A community in Camden vows to restore a piece of history devastated by a weekend fire.
A fire tore through the two-story twin at 753 Walnut St. on Saturday — a house where Martin Luther King, Jr. lived from 1948 to 1951 while studying at Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Delaware County.
Although the fire damaged the property, it didn’t take hope away from neighbors and activists who vow to restore the site.
“This was a beacon of hope, a place that people looked up to,” said Pastor Amir Khan, founder of New Beginnings, a nonprofit that owns the building.
“When I got there, I saw the four walls around, damage to the back wall, and the roof, of course, caved in. But you know what, we had to do a lot of rehabs on the house anyway,” he said.
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According to Khan, inspectors found the house to still be structurally sound. The fire marshal and Camden officials said they will not condemn the building, setting the groundwork for Khan to transition the house into a museum and social justice center sooner than later.
“It didn’t slow us down at all,” he added. “We leap-frogged — it probably sped things up by six months to a year.”
Activist Patrick Duff has been attempting to get the house listed on the state and national historic registry since 2015. The New Jersey Historic Preservation Office rejected his application five years later, stating there was insufficient evidence that a “significant” event happened at the address.
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But Duff believes a significant event did happen there — the house was where King made the deliberate decision to go to Mary’s Cafe and conduct a non-violent protest if he were refused service.
He was denied, so King and four others proceeded with their sit-in. They later reported it to police, and one of the signatures on the police report is King’s, along with the accompanying Walnut Street address.
Khan said restoration work on the property will begin in 30 to 60 days.