St. Augustine house where Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke restored after 2 hurricanes

After two hurricanes, a St. Augustine family has restored a home where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in 1964.

Hurricane Matthew sent a foot of water gushing into the Oneida Street house in 2016.

The floor had to be gutted down to the ground.

STORY: Hurricane Matthew damage could doom St. Augustine home where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke

Last year, St. Augustine’s Historic Architecture Review Board considered demolition.

“I’m going to be honest. When it first happened, I was ready to just tear the whole house down. But my wife and my daughter, they were real persistent on not tearing it down because of the historical value,” said owner Richard Duncan.

After a full renovation, the house looks like it’s ready for someone to move back in.

STORY: Historic home damaged by arson to be revamped and revived

“We had to pull the dry wall, pull the subflooring, pull the insulation,” said Stanford Restoration and Reconstruction President Chuck Stanford in February 2017.

In 1964, Dr. King gave a televised press conference in front of the house after a protest at a segregated beach in St. Augustine.

“I actually got the privilege to shake Dr. King’s hand when I was – I think I was, like, 10 or 11,” said Duncan.

Now the restored home can continue to stand as a landmark of St. Augustine civil rights history.

Cox Media Group