Montgomery in Montgomery County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Cleveland Court Apartments
Photographed by Mark Hilton, January 19, 2014
1. Cleveland Court Apartments Marker
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks left work and boarded a downtown bus. Her destination was home, Cleveland Court Apartment No. 634. She didn't make it home that day as she was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white man. This single act of defiance, violating the segregation laws of that time, led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and launched Rosa Parks into the national spotlight. She later became a distinct symbol as the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement."
The apartment complex was built in 1941 and is managed by the Montgomery Housing Authority. Rosa and Raymond Parks resided in apartment No. 634 until 1957. They moved to Detroit, Michigan after the Montgomery bus boycott ended. The Cleveland Court Apartment building 620-638 was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 9, 2001.
Erected 2004 by The Alabama Historical Association.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights. In addition, it is included in the Alabama Historical Association series list. A significant historical month for this entry is October 1951.
Location. Marker is missing. It was located
this page online
Regionally, this marker was in Alabama’s Tri-Counties River Region. It was also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, and in the Black Belt. Globally, it was in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it found itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Home of Dr. E. D. Nixon, Sr. (approx. Ό mile away); Holt Street Baptist Church (approx. Ό mile away);
Photographed by Mark Hilton, January 19, 2014
2. Cleveland Court Apartments
The marker and the office shown are no longer there. A small park area is now where the office was.
Other markers no longer nearby. Percy Lavon Julian (was approx. Ό mile away but has been confirmed missing); Bertha Pleasant Williams / Rosa Parks Branch Library (was approx. 0.3 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Public Domain, circa 1955
3. Rosa L Parks & Martin Luther King, Jr.
Credits. This page was last revised on September 8, 2026. It was originally submitted on January 20, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 2,438 times since then and 104 times this year. Last updated on September 5, 2026. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on January 20, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
