A.G. Gaston Motel, Civil Rights Movement motel in Birmingham, United States.

The A.G. Gaston Motel is a three-story brick motel built in 1954 at 1527 Fifth Avenue North in Birmingham, with 32 guest rooms arranged around a central courtyard. It was the first motel in the city to offer African American travelers rooms with private bathrooms, custom drapes, and quality furnishings. The building retains its mid-century layout and design.

The motel was founded in 1954 by A.G. Gaston, a successful Black businessman and entrepreneur. It became a center of activity during the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham throughout the 1960s.

The motel served as a gathering place for African American travelers during segregation and was listed in the Negro Motorist Green Book. It represented Black entrepreneurship and independence at a time when such success was uncommon.

The property is now managed by the National Park Service and the City of Birmingham, with guided tours available to visitors. You can walk through the rooms and exhibits to learn about its role in civil rights history, with special focus on the spaces where key events took place.

Room 30 served as the headquarters where Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy and Fred Shuttlesworth planned parts of the 1963 Birmingham campaign. The May 10, 1963 bombing by white supremacist terrorists followed that organizing work. From 1982 to 1996 the former motel was used as senior housing.