Burgaw highway honors Civil Rights leader

A stretch of highway in Burgaw now honors one of Nation’s most esteemed civil rights leaders.

On Saturday, community leaders in Pender County dedicated one and a half miles of highway 117 to Martin Luther King Junior. It took two years to make it happen.

Attendees included the Mayor of Burgaw and newly appointed state representative Sandra Spaulding Hughes. Community leaders said it’s important the area recognize Dr. King and his accomplishments.

“There’s nothing is this county named after Dr. King [and] I think it wasn’t good for the community, nor for the town itself,” said Reverend James Malloy, who oversaw the dedication process. “So we recognize that and we come together and accomplish that because we don’t want our county or city to be left out or think that we don’t honor a man of such great magnitude.”

The sign marking the MLK highway sits at the intersection of 117 and Timberly road in Burgaw.