Murfreesboro

Murfreesboro is the county seat for Rutherford County.    While you’re visiting Murfreesboro remember to stop at Fortress Rosecrans and Stones River National Battlefield.  In 1811, the Tennessee State Legislature established a county seat for Rutherford County. The town was first named “Cannonsburgh” in honor of Tennessee politician Newton Cannon, but was soon renamed “Murfreesboro” for Revolutionary War hero Colonel Hardy Murfree, later the great-grandfather of author Mary Noailles Murfree.

 

Murfreesboro had begun as a mainly agricultural community, but by 1853 the area was home to several colleges and academies, earning it the nickname “Athens of Tennessee”. Despite the trauma of the Civil War, by the early 1900s its growth began to regain momentum, in contrast to large areas of the South. In 1911, the state created Middle Tennessee State Normal School, a two-year school for training teachers.

 

 

Median household income: $39,705