Amid the government shutdown, visitors were turned away from the Martin Luther King historic site

ATLANTA — The government shutdown shuttered Atlanta’s best-known National Park Service site on Wednesday.

Visitors, many from out of state, were quite disappointed that the Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Site, run by the U.S. government, had become a pawn in the partisan politics of Washington, D.C.

"I’ve never been here to Ebenezer church, and I would love to go inside," said Nakia Graham, who visited Auburn Avenue from North Carolina with his wife, Takiva.

They wanted to see the historic church once pastored by Martin Luther King Jr. It's a spot where National Park Service rangers typically lead tours. But visitors trying to enter the church encountered a bolted door — deadlocked, like the U.S. Congress, which shut down many government services overnight.

"We have elected our leader