Everything about Murray Kentucky totally explained
Murray is a city in
Calloway County,
Kentucky,
United States. The population was 15,725 as of 2006 census estimates and has a
micropolitan area population of 35,421. It is the
county seat of
Calloway County and is the home of
Murray State University.
Geography
Murray is located at (36.609494, -88.315656).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.7
square miles (25.1
km²), all of it land.
Murray is situated 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of the 170,000 acre (688 km²)
Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area, which offers fishing, boating, swimming, camping, and a large wildlife population.
Climate
Murray has a borderline
humid continental climate and four distinct seasons. The warmest month of the year is July, with an average high temperature of 90
°F. The coldest month is January, with an average high temperature of 44
°F.
| Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures |
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Rec High °F | 76 |
81 |
88 |
90 |
95 |
106 |
110 |
108 |
108 |
96 |
83 |
79
|
| Norm High °F | 44 |
50 |
60 |
70 |
78 |
86 |
90 |
89 |
82 |
71 |
58 |
48
|
| Norm Low °F | 27 |
31 |
39 |
48 |
57 |
66 |
69 |
67 |
60 |
49 |
39 |
31
|
| Rec Low °F | -16 |
-9 |
-3 |
23 |
34 |
44 |
52 |
49 |
31 |
21 |
-1 |
-13
|
| Precip (in) | 4.25 |
4.59 |
5.25 |
5.09 |
5.39 |
4.85 |
4.50 |
3.46 |
3.64 |
3.52 |
5.41 |
5.34
|
| Source: The Weather Channel Climatology |
History
In the Beginning
The city now known as Murray began as a
post office and trading center sometime in the 1820s. It was at that time called Williston in honor of James Willis, an early settler. Later, the name was changed to Pooltown after Robert Pool, a local merchant. The name was changed again to Pleasant Springs before its incorporation on
January 17,
1884, when the present name was adopted to honor
U.S. Congressman John L. Murray.
Murray wasn't the original
county seat of
Calloway County. In 1822
Calloway County and
Marshall County, Kentucky were but one single county with the
county seat being Wadesboro. In 1842, the state legislature divided the area into two separate counties. Shortly thereafter it was decided that a new county seat would be developed, more centrally located than Wadesboro. A site was selected at the geographic center of the county, a village named Murray. A courthouse was quickly built along with a jail. Murray was formed on an 80 acre plot and was subdivided into 137 business and residential lots with 8 streets total in the village, thus the birth of Murray.
The Civil War Era
While officially Murray and
Calloway County were declared neutral during the
Civil War, there was a large following of the
Confederate States of America late in the war. There were not a lot of large conflicts that took place in the town of Murray, but the citizens did see some
guerrilla warfare. In the spring of 1862 the general of the Union forces stationed in
Paducah, Kentucky made his way to the
Tennessee River, taking whatever property he wanted from the Murray townspeople. On more than one occasion, the town of Murray was burned. Once, the town was burned due to raids on its citizens by guerrillas who took every valuable they could get their hands on. On another occasion, a diary by Josh Ellison states that in the winter of 1864 a squad of soldiers from
Paducah, Kentucky burned the east side of the court square on Friday night, and on Monday they burned the north side of the court square. Some of the
denominations that make their home in Murray include,
Baptist,
Catholic,
Episcopal,
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
Christian Science,
Church of Christ,
Pentecostal,
Presbyterian,
Methodist, and
Non-Denominational. Baptist is by far the most prominent religion in Murray with over 25 Baptist churches within the Murray area.
Culture
Annual Festivals
Murray plays host to several annual festivals and events. Perhaps the most well known Murray festival is the annual
Freedom Fest
celebration. The dates of the festival vary from year to year, but are always near the end of June through the first week of July. During the festival, activities include a
parade, a
farmer's market, a street fair, a
barbecue contest located in historic downtown, as well as the signature Fireworks Extravaganza which draws crowds from all over the region. The largest event of
Freedom Fest is the annual concert put on by local radio station
Froggy 103.7, which they name "Froggy Fest". Artists who have played in the past are: Confederate Railroad, Lonestar, Travis Tritt, Sara Evans, Trace Adkins and more.
Dickens Alley, also well known in the region, is held during the first weekend in December. The festival turns historic downtown Murray into olde
London from centuries ago. Activities include a street fair, home-baked goods for sale and carolers dressed from the period.
Other festivals include the
Highland Festival, and the
Lumberjack Challenge.
Museums and Galleries
For a city of its size, Murray offers tourists and citizens tastes of culture that are usually only available in larger cities. The
Clara M. Eagle Gallery is a multi-level art gallery that houses around 1,200 permanent artworks. The gallery has also been home to temporary shows, featuring contemporary art, African art, woodworking, and tapestries from
Spain among others. The galleries have near of show space.
The
Wrather West Kentucky Museum is located in the first building constructed on the campus of Murray State University and has been placed on the
National Register of Historic Places. The museum, which is free to the public, highlights the social development, economic and cultural development of the people of the
Jackson Purchase region of
Kentucky through permanent and changing exhibits.
Parks
Murray has two city parks that cover over of land. A three-pool swimming complex is housed in Murray's Central Park. The parks also features 15 soccer fields, 7 basketball courts, 15 playgrounds, 9 baseball and softball fields, and a three-mile (5 km) nature walking trail. The parks also have 10 covered picnic pavilions for family gatherings and an amphitheater. The park features a disc golf course that was the first one of its kind in the area.
Playhouse in the Park
Playhouse in the Park is one of the oldest community theatres in the state of
Kentucky. The theatre is located in Murray's Central Park and is housed in a 1907 train and freight depot. The playhouse is open year-round and produces everything including original works, comedies, dramas, children's theatre, and musicals.
Media
The only daily newspaper in the city of Murray is the
Murray Ledger & Times. The Ledger is in its 128th year and has remained locally operated. The Ledger is printed six days per week and has a city/county circulation of around 7,200 papers per day. The Ledger also has many out of city readers who receive their paper via mail.
The Murray State News is a weekly, award-winning student produced newspaper that has become popular, not only with students, but with regular citizens of Murray. The paper features everything from campus news, sports, activities, and opinions.
The city of Murray has four
radio stations that reach audiences well beyond the city of Murray. The stations are:
The city of Murray has two television stations:
WKMU TV 21, the local transmitter for the statewide
KET public television network; and
WQTV, a
CW affiliate associated with
KFVS in
Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
Sports
College athletics are the sporting events of choice in the Murray area. Murray State University participates in
NCAA Division I athletics which is the highest level of collegiate athletics. The university has 16 athletic programs that compete in the
Ohio Valley Conference and have provided 117 conference titles since 1948. The most popular sport at Murray State is the men's basketball program. The basketball program is one of the winningest programs in NCAA history with over 1,300 wins and an all-time winning percentage of .637, which places Murray State 20th best in NCAA history.
Murray State has won 20 regular season
Ohio Valley Conference titles and 13 OVC Tournament titles, which is the best in the OVC. The men's basketball program has produced a number of
NBA plaers, most notably
Jeff Martin,
Popeye Jones, and
Joe Fulks, who is a
Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and has been credited with being one of the pioneers of the jump shot.
Murray State football, although not as popular as basketball, is also rich in winning tradition and is well followed. The football program has won 8 Ohio Valley Conference titles and has produced 17
NFL players. Even more well-known are the coaches the football program has produced.
Ralph Friedgen,
Frank Beamer,
Mike Gottfried,
Houston Nutt, and
Ron Zook have all had their coaching careers run through the Murray State football program. There have been 10 players that have been selected as first team All-American's and 21 second, third, and honorable mention All-American's. The Murray State football program has won over 400 games, the most decisive win coming in 1932 when Murray State beat the
University of Louisville 105-0.
Cinema
Murray is fortunate enough to have two movie theatres, the first of which is the
Cheri Theatre. The Cheri theatre has seven screens and shows nothing but
first-run films. The Cheri was started in 1967 as a single-screen theatre with seating for 600. There have been many additions and renovations throughout the years and in 1997, two 290 stadium seating auditoriums were added, making the Cheri theatre the first theatre in
Kentucky to offer stadium seating.
The second theatre is the
Cinema International. The Cinema International is run through the department of modern languages at
Murray State University. The cinema runs around 18 films per year of every film
genre from directors around the world. There is no admission for the viewings and open to not only students, but the general public as well.
Infrastructure
Education
The Murray Independent School system has been a part of the Murray community since 1872 when the first school was built in the middle of town. The school system has an enrollment of over 1,800 students. The Murray school system has been known for offering an excellent public education. There have been 35
National Merit Finalists since 1974. In 2006, the high school test scores were ranked as being 9th in the state of
Kentucky.
Standard & Poor's recognized the Murray Independent school district as being one of only 18
Kentucky school districts as an outperforming school district. The athletic program competes in
KHSAA Class AA in most sports. The school system also covers numerous extra curricular activities, from
band,
arts,
social clubs, and an
academic team.
Higher Education
Murray State University, a four-year public university. The university was founded in 1922 and started out as the Murray
Normal School. Today, the university offers 11 associate, 64 bachelor, and 42 master's programs and has an enrollment of over 10,000.
Transportation
Roads
Murray is easily accessed by several
highways. The main
highway in and out of the city is
US 641.
US 641 connects Murray to
Interstate 40 in the south and
Interstate 24 to the north. The four lane highway is heavily traveled and can see well over 25,000 cars per day in the stretch through Murray. Currently,
US 641 from the south of Murray is a two lane highway until you reach the
Tennessee state line. However, the state of
Kentucky has made plans in its six-year
highway plan to widen the highway to four lanes. The current two lane version has become too saturated due to the high number of citizens of
Tennessee who come to Murray to trade to save on
sales tax.
Kentucky 80 is the newest
limited access highway that's nearing completion. The highway, when completed, will link
Columbus, Kentucky to the
Virginia border. A portion of the road will be connected with
US 68, most notably through the
Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area. The highway will also intersect with
Interstate 24,
Interstate 65, and
Interstate 75. The highway is expected to be an
economic boom to the Murray area by increasing
tourism and
industry.
Other road projects in Murray are to include the widening of Kentucky 121 through the city of Murray. Over 12,000 cars travel that stretch of road per day. There is also a downtown loop and four lane
bypass in the works to help relieve
traffic congestion within the city.
Airport
The airport in Murray is the
Murray-Calloway County Airport. The airport, known as Kyle-Oakley Field, is a
general aviation airport that features a 24-hour
terminal and has a runway dimension of 6,200'x 100' and can handle up to a 60,000 lb dual-wheel
aircraft. The
call-sign for Kyle-Oakley Field is CEY.
MCTA
The
Murray Calloway Transit Authority provides the city of Murray and the surrounding area with transportation for those who don't have a vehicle. The
transit authority offers medical, recreational, and educational transportation.
MCTA has a pass system for frequent riders and a program to give transportation to those who are unable to pay.
Rail
The
KWT Railway starts at one mile (1.6 km) north of Murray and travels south to
Bruceton, Tennessee where it connects with
CSX railway that travels to
Memphis, Tennessee and beyond. Once a major railway between
Nashville and
St Louis, the railway has seen new life as a
freight line.
Webasto roof-systems is the largest user of the KWT, doing most of its shipping and receiving via the
railway.
Utilities
Electric service in the city of Murray is provided by the
Murray Electric System. The
electric system is locally owned and governed and gets all of its energy from the
Tennessee Valley Authority. In turn, electric customers in Murray enjoy one of the lowest electric rates in the
United States. The cost is around 7.2 cents per
kilowatt hour. In recent years, MES has branched out into
telecommunications. It offers
internet service with speeds of up to 4
Mbit/s, home
telephone service, and
digital cable television service.
Natural gas and
water service falls under the city of Murrays'
Public Works department. The natural gas service has roughly 5,500 customers, in which 1.3 million
cubic feet is used per year. The water system treats 1.3
billion gallons of water per year going through of
water main piping. The current
treatment plant was built in 1992 with a capacity of 7 million gallons per day. At current, the plant treats 3.6 million gallons per day. The Murray sewer treatment plant treats 4 million gallons of
sewage per day and is connected with of
sanitary sewer piping.
Crime
Murray boasts one of the lowest crime rates in Kentucky. The total crime risk index score for Murray is 54, which is 46 points below the national crime risk score of 100.
Notable natives
Nathan B. Stubblefield, pioneer in radio/inventor
W. Earl Brown, actor
JoeBuck, musician
T.R.M. Howard, surgeon, civil rights leader, and entrepreneur.
Molly Sims, model/actress
Craig Morris, PhD., archaeologist of Incan Expeditions. Research leader at American Museum of Natural history Obituary
Further Information
Get more info on 'Murray Kentucky'.
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