Murphy, Texas history

By 1850, the William and Dorothy Murphy family also settled on Maxwell Creek.

The J.M. Back assortment covers images of the Back family who settled on a fifty acre farm in Collin County, Texas in 1883.

By 1888, the town was renamed for James Murphy, who donated land for the Murphy Train Depot.

By 1930, Murphy was mayor of Detroit, the nation's fourth-largest city, after defeating the disgraced and recalled Mayor Charles Bowles (more on him in our list of worst mayors). And Murphy couldn't have come at a better time.

The Old Murphy Schoolhouse was built in 1938 as a WPA project and housed elementary and high school students.

On July 19, 1949 William Francis "Frank" Murphy died in his sleep at a Detroit hospital.

The City of Murphy was officially established with the State of Texas on September 29, 1958.

With the opening of the President George Bush Turnpike through Plano and Richardson in 2000, economic development and residential growth has been strong in Murphy, steadily increasing to the current population of 21,013.

In 2005, the current Municipal Complex housing City Hall, the Police Department, the Fire Department, and the Parks and Public Works Building was opened across from the Old City Hall / School House.

The Murphy Historical Society was organized in 2011 with only five members.

In 2012, the Old School House opened once again as a Community Center honoring the historic Old Murphy Schoolhouse.