A Martin Luther King connection for South Jersey sites?

The rowhouse at 753 Walnut St. is vacant and dilapidated, like many in Camden. Windows are boarded up, part of the roof has given way, and an adjacent lot is overgrown.

What sets this house apart from others is a claim that it was home to Martin Luther King Jr. while he attended the now-closed Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland.

There, he apparently studied for classes - and mulled issues that helped mold him as a civil rights leader.

That connection is being investigated by the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office after it received an application to place the house on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places.

The application was submitted by Patrick Duff, 39, of Haddon Heights, a social activist who came across the house while researching a 1950 incident in which the young King and his friends were refused service at a Maple Shade cafe.

Duff, who grew up in Willingboro and Delran, said he had long admired King and hoped to see the site in Camden's Bergen Square section renovated and turned into a historic attraction and the vacant lot next to it transformed into a small park.

He is trying to raise money, and he met with Camden City Council President Frank Moran, who said that the rowhouse was worthy of preserving and that the city "could explore the idea of making it part of a historical tour" that would include other sites such as Walt Whitman's house.

"It's so important to every American that we preserve this history," said Duff, who hopes to receive donations for the project at www.gofundme.com/HouseofMLK. "It should be commemorated.

"I've always had an empathy for people who are down on their luck. It's something that's built inside of me," he said. "I think MLK showed us a better way."

Duff also is waiting to learn whether Maple Shade Township will be allowed to erect a plaque or small monument on state-owned land in town, at Main Street and Route 73, the former site of the cafe where King and his friends had their confrontation with the owner.

The incident was a milestone in King's life, said Duff, a salesman at Winner Ford in Cherry Hill. "If you don't have the history of what made MLK who he was, then you can't understand how he became the leader he was," Duff said. "How could people not want to memorialize the house in Camden and the site in Maple Shade?

"They're among the two most valuable historical places connected to his life," he said. "He came away from what happened at the cafe thinking it's time for change."

King visited the cafe with fellow seminary student Walter R. McCall of Camden and their dates at 12:45 a.m. one June night.

The pub owner declined to serve them, saying he was prohibited from selling "package goods" after 10 p.m., and when pressed for four glasses of ginger ale, he declined, pulled a pistol, walked outside, and fired it a few times.

King reported the incident to police and the owner was arrested, but charges were dismissed when several witnesses failed to testify before a grand jury.

King's Camden address on the 1950 police report was spotted by Duff, who visited 753 Walnut St. in February and imagined the future civil rights leader climbing the steps to his room the night of the cafe incident, and considering what had just happened.

"He was out on a date and was refused service," Duff said. "It put him in a position where he wanted to stop that from happening to others; he wanted to stop social evil."

Duff also met with the house's current owner, Jeanette Lily Hunt, who said she remembered King staying there and exchanging greetings with him. Hunt said that she was 20 and married at the time and that her father-in-law owned the house. She has supported efforts to turn it into a historic site.

"What happened in Maple Shade and Camden put [King] on a course to change not only South Jersey but the world," Duff said.

The preliminary application for inclusion on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places is being evaluated by the state Office of Historic Preservation, said Caryn Shinske, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. "If it's found eligible, a National Register nomination would be completed."

The office is expected to finish its work within the next two weeks, Shinske said.

Because of a lengthy review process, though, a year can pass from nomination to listing, she said.

In the meantime, Moran, the council president, said he was investigating the possibility of restoring the house and converting it into a museum.

"I'm supportive of the concept and will forward it to [Mayor Dana Redd's] administration, and I think she will be supportive," said Moran, who also is director of the Camden County Parks Department. "There is a lot of work ahead, and funding has to be discussed."

In Maple Shade, council members voted unanimously in February to explore Duff's proposal to erect a memorial at the former cafe site, and they have been awaiting permission from the state Department of Transportation, which owns the land, Township Manager Jack Layne said.

The council rejected an earlier proposal to build a park at the site because of safety concerns at the busy location, the topography of the site, and lack of parking.

Providing access to the disabled also would have been problematic.

Funding for the memorial may come from the township and grants. "I would like to see this thing come to closure," Layne said.