Murfreesboro, Tennessee history

The county, now organized under the auspices of the Legislature, held its first court meeting early in 1804 at the Thomas Rucker home, near the present Veterans Hospital.

In 1805, the small knoll resting between the two forks of the river was officially designated as the first permanent seat of justice and given the name Jefferson after the President of the United States at the time.

The southern boundary of Rutherford County originally extended to the Alabama line but was reset at its present location in 1807 when Bedford County was created.

The real landmark in education was Bradley Academy, opened in Murfreesboro in 1810 and supported primarily through tuition and lotteries.

Murfreesboro, city, seat (1811) of Rutherford county, central Tennessee, United States, lying on the West Fork Stones River about 30 miles (50 km) southeast of Nashville.

In 1818, Murfreesborough’s population was estimated at 950.

In 1827, one year after the flight of the Capital, the Temperance Society, the first of its kind in the United States, was formed at the First Presbyterian Church on East Vine Street.

In a belated attempt to honor Andrew Jackson, the Hero of New Orleans, and to enhance his political fortunes, a great reception and celebration were conducted for him on his visit to the town in 1828.

Rutherford County, resting astride the exact center of the state, first gave serious attention to establishing a system of roads in 1831.

In 1837, the first great Asiatic cholera epidemic swept across the county and decimated many homes and also caused a massive exodus of the population to hill counties to the east of Rutherford.

By 1840 Rutherford County was one of the premier corn producing counties in the nation.

Census reports of 1850 estimate the cash value of county farms at four and a half million dollars.

Later constructed in this order were Murfreesboro and Salem, Eagleville and Salem, Lascassas, Bradyville, Lascassas-Jefferson, and Hall’s Hill, However, the apogee of transportation for the period was reached on July 4, 1851 when the first passenger railroad car rolled into Murfreesborough.

The first dramatic military event occurred on July 13, 1862 when Col.

Sampson W. Keeble, a native of Rutherford County, became the first African-American to be elected to the Tennessee General Assembly in 1872.

In 1874, E. C. Cox, who was to become the first bonafide superintendent, deplored the educational conditions but, nevertheless, was hopeful for the future.

In 1891 John Price Buchanan became the first — and only — Tennessee governor from Rutherford County.

An indication that the community may have at last reached a fair level of recovery was the establishment of the Murfreesboro Street Railway in 1892.

Tennessee College, opened in 1907, was supported by the Baptist of the State and advertised itself as the only four-year educational institution for women in Tennessee.

When President Woodrow Wilson issued the proclamation of war on the evening of April 2, 1917, Rutherford established its first Selective Service Board composed of Doctor B.N. White, Chairman; J.T. Wrather, Secretary, and E.E. Loughry.

The Headquarters Battery of the 115th Field Artillery, which had been organized in Murfreesboro, left for Camp Jackson on September 16, 1940.

Ganaway died in 1944, but many of his descendants still live in Murfreesboro.

However, the sale of beer remained legal until 1945 when the Murfreesboro City Council banned its sale within the city’s corporate limits.

The decade, beginning in 1950, was significant for the community’s gigantic effort to remove its slums.

Further refurbishment came in 1970 with the launching of a similar project in Westvue lying in the southern part of the city.

Former Miss America Vanessa Williams (1984) learned she was one of Keeble’s descendants as part of a genealogy show that aired on NBC.

The 2017 Open was won by Michael Holmes, a man who played checkers in Thomas Steagall's barn.