14 facts you didn’t know about Murfreesboro

Whether you’re from Murfreesboro or are just coming to the city, it’s good to know a bit of history from the town you live in. Murfreesboro is packed with hidden gems and fun facts that you may not have heard of before, and here are a few of them.

1. Murfreesboro was the Tennessee state capital from 1818 to 1826.


2. The city of Murfreesboro was initially named Cannonsburgh, which is now a reconstructed historical site you can visit in Murfreesboro called Cannonsburgh Village. It was later renamed Murfreesboro in tribute to Colonel Hardy Murfee.




Stones River Battlefield

3. One of the most bitter encounters of the American Civil War took place three miles northwest of Murfreesboro, and Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro preserves the site where a strategic victory over the Confederates took place.


4. After the Battle of Stones River occurred, the Union Army used the city as a supply base.


5. The geographic center of Tennessee is about one mile away from MTSU’s campus.


6. Murfreesboro was once called the “Athens of Tennessee” by a visiting reporter because it was home to three colleges and several academies by 1853.


7. Today, Murfreesboro is the home of MTSU, with more than 25,000 students, the highest undergraduate enrollment in the state.


8. Murfreesboro’s population has nearly tripled since the 90s, from 44,922 in 1990 to over 130,000 in 2017 and is continually growing today, both residentially and commercially.


9. In September 2018, Murfreesboro was ranked in the top 20 of Time Magazine’s “Best Places to Live in America.”




The Greenway

10. In order to keep up with the widespread growth and attraction of the city, Murfreesboro is currently under a 20-plus year plan to bring development to the city’s current transportation, housing, neighborhood, parks and recreation, public facilities, historical preservation, economic rejuvenation and much more.


11. Murfreesboro has a trail system called the Greenway, which is currently 12 miles of paved paths and 11 trailheads. But with Murfreesboro’s current expansion and development plan, the Greenway system will be expanding to about 173 miles worth of greenways, bikeways and water trails.


12. Murfreesboro was ranked #1 on Livability.com’s “Most Affordable Cities in Tennessee.”




Oaklands Mansion



13. Oaklands Mansion, a historical site and public museum, was the original home of Sally Murfree Maney, an inheritance from her father and Murfreesboro’s namesake, Colonel Hardy Murfee.


14. Murfreesboro has made national news on a few occasions, including most recently in October 2017 when a White Lives Matter rally came to protest in downtown Murfreesboro. Opponents of the rally outnumbered the white nationalists that came to protest by about 600 to 30.