Lorraine Motel (Memphis, Tenn.)

Now: The museum preserved the beige-and-green exterior of the Lorraine Motel as it looked on the evening of King’s death. A white wreath, attached to a railing, marks the spot on the balcony where King was shot. Two 1960s-era cars sit in the parking lot below.

“The actual room in which Dr. King stayed at the time of his assassination is part of the museum tour,” says Connie Dyson, communications coordinator for the museum. “The room is preserved or staged as it was that day. No one stayed in the room since his assassination.”

Other sections of the former motel are used to chronicle “key episodes of the American civil rights movement … through collections, exhibitions and educational programs,” according to the museum’s Web site.

Photo: On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. He was 39 years old.