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Fire Devastates Memphis’s Historic Clayborn Temple, Interior Lost

The April 28 blaze gutted the civil rights landmark, with investigations underway and city leaders pledging to rebuild.

Sadyya Rockett-Miller and her husband Andre LeMoyne Miller grieve outside of the historic Clayborn Temple, a landmark from the civil rights movement with ties to Martin Luther King, that caught fire Monday, April 28, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Karen Pulfer Focht)
FILE - In this April 8, 1968, file photo, people gather at the Clayborn Temple as they prepare to march in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King in Memphis, Tenn., four days after the civil rights leader was assassinated. (AP Photo/File)
Sadyya Rockett-Miller and her husband Andre LeMoyne Miller grieve outside of the historic Clayborn Temple, a landmark from the civil rights movement with ties to Martin Luther King, that caught fire Monday, April 28, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Karen Pulfer Focht)
A person walks past the historic Clayborn Temple on April 3, 2018, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Overview

  • Clayborn Temple, a pivotal site in Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 sanitation workers’ strike, suffered catastrophic damage in an early morning fire on April 28, 2025.
  • The fire, reported at 1:39 a.m., reduced the interior to rubble, though officials are hopeful the facade can be salvaged.
  • The Memphis Fire Department, local police, and federal ATF agents are investigating the cause of the blaze, which remains unknown.
  • The church, undergoing a $25 million restoration slated for completion in 2026, had been preserved as a symbol of civil rights history and architectural heritage.
  • Memphis Mayor Paul Young has pledged the city’s support to help rebuild the site, calling it ‘sacred ground’ and a symbol of hope and struggle.