Within the section of West Modesto streets named for Founding Fathers and tree varieties is Martin Luther King Drive, or more specifically, North Martin Luther King Drive and South Martin Luther King Drive. Following the tragic assassination of civil rights leader Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, cities across the country began renaming streets in his honor to memorialize King’s contributions to and the vision he had for American society. Modesto was no exception, and the City Council ultimately adopted its MLK Drive in 1987, a year after the idea was first introduced locally and nineteen years after King’s death.
While the first proposal to name a street for King was made in 1986 by Reverend Franklin Clemmons and the Westside Ministerial Alliance, the Modesto City Council officially considered the action in February 1987, with the effort led by Reverend Monroe Taylor. At the time, the consideration to rename Franklin Street and Sutter Avenue was met with mixed reactions by community members: some Franklin and Sutter residents languished over the claimed logistical burden of the required address changes, while advocates lauded the proposed move as a way to positively impact minority residents and honor King’s legacy. Following the public hearing on the proposed renaming, the City Council voted unanimously on February 10, 1987 to implement the name change.
Later in April 1987, opposition to the renaming of the unincorporated portion of Sutter Avenue by the Stanislaus Board of Supervisors due to concerns over address duplication and resident feedback ultimately caused the City Council to amend its previous decision. To accommodate the concerns of establishing one singular MLK Drive and lack of support from the Board of Supervisors, just Franklin Street from Paradise Road to Highway 99 was formally renamed for King. The section north of Maze Boulevard was designated “North Martin Luther King Drive” and the section from Paradise to Maze was designated “South Martin Luther King Drive.” This resolved any concern of change of address burden and duplication, and would allow for Sutter Avenue south of Paradise to potentially be reconsidered at a later time. That later name change never came to fruition, and Sutter Avenue still continues south from South MLK Drive…