Benton is 19 miles (31 km) to the north, and Mayfield is 24 miles (39 km) to the northwest.Īccording to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.3 square miles (29.2 km 2), of which 0.29 square miles (0.75 km 2), or 0.26%, is water. The courthouse grounds on which the statue stands belongs to Calloway County and the County Court voted unanimously in 2020 to keep the statue rather than relocate it from courthouse grounds. The Confederate Monument was donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and has been subject to calls for removal most recently in 2020. Calloway County's Confederate veterans are honored by a monument on the northeast side of the court house square. Īn estimated 800 men from the area joined in the Confederate Army, either as infantry in the Kentucky Orphan Brigade or in the cavalry. A diary kept by Josh Ellison of Murray tells that one night during the winter of 1864-65, a detachment of Union soldiers from Paducah torched every building on the east side of the court square, and three days later burned all those north of the square. Once, part of the town was burned by the Union Army in retaliation for its presumed support for the Confederate guerrillas. Also, parts of Murray were burned on several occasions. In the spring of 1862, a Union force stationed in Paducah marched across the county to the Tennessee River, taking anything it wanted from the inhabitants without paying. No major battles were fought near the town, but guerrilla warfare sometimes took place nearby. Kentucky did not officially secede from the Union during the Civil War, instead declaring its neutrality, but both Murray and Calloway County were strongly pro- Confederate. Monument honoring the Confederate soldiers on the northeast corner of the Murray court square
A new courthouse was built along with a jail, and the town Murray was laid out on an 80-acre (320,000 m 2) plot subdivided into 137 business and residential lots divided by eight streets. It was felt that a more centrally located county seat was needed, and as the village of Murray was at the geographic center, it was chosen. In 1842, however, the state legislature divided the area, creating Marshall County.
Calloway County was then much larger than today. Murray was not the first county seat, which was at Wadesboro. The name was changed again to “Pleasant Springs” before its incorporation on January 17, 1844, when the present name was adopted to honor Rep. Later, the name was changed to “Pooltown” after Robert Pool, a local merchant. It was at first called “Williston” in honor of James Willis, an early settler. The city now known as Murray began as a post office and trading center sometime in the early 1820s. Calloway County courthouse on Murray's court square
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