Murphy, North Carolina

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Murphy is a town in Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,568 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cherokee County^GR6 and is commonly accepted as the westernmost town in North Carolina.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Demographics
4 Murphy Trivia
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Murphy is located at 35°5′23″N, 84°1′48″W (35.089848, -84.029924)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 6.5 km² (2.5 mi²). 5.9 km² (2.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (8.80%) is water.

The town is located at the confluence of the Hiwassee River and Valley River.

Murphy is a town in Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,568 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cherokee CountyGR6 and is commonly accepted as the westernmost town in North Carolina.

[edit] History

The site of Murphy, along the Hiwassee River, was known to the Cherokee as Tlanusi-yi (the Leech Place), due to a story of a giant leech named Tlanusi living in the river (Duncan 2003:177).

The Trading Path (later called the "Unicoi Turnpike") passed by the future site of Murphy, connecting the Cherokee lands east of the mountains with the "Overhill Towns" of Tennessee (Duncan 2003:245).

During the Trail of Tears era, American troops built Fort Butler in present-day Murphy. This fort acted as the main collection point for Cherokee east of the mountains. From Fort Butler the Cherokee were taken over the mountains on the Unicoi Turnpike to the main internment camps at Fort Cass (today Charleston, Tennessee Today the Unicoi Turnpike is known as Joe Brown Highway. The Cherokee County Historical Museum is located in Murphy, and contains information about the Trail of Tears era (Duncan 2003:185).

Murphy was the terminus point of the historic Murphy Branch rail line built in the late 1800s giving the section of track its name. The branch no longer reaches Murphy.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,568 people, 725 households, and 440 families residing in the town. The population density was 265.5/km² (687.7/mi²). There were 819 housing units at an average density of 138.7/km² (359.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 89.60% White, 5.48% African American, 1.28% Native American, 1.34% Asian, 1.15% from other races, and 1.15% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.87% of the population.

There were 725 households out of which 22.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% are married couples/sex couples living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.3% were non-families. 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.71.

In the town the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 23.2% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 24.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 87.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $24,952, and the median income for a family was $35,234. Males had a median income of $30,395 versus $16,908 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,926. About 16.7% of families and 22.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.2% of those under age 18 and 21.4% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Murphy Trivia

Eric Rudolph, the fugitive who was responsible for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing and other deadly bombings, was arrested in Murphy on May 31, 2003.
Carl Pickens, formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals, played his high school football in Murphy^{[citation needed]}.

Legendary Christian Rock band Petra (band) performed their final concert in Murphy on December 31, 2005.

[edit] References

Duncan, Barbara R. and Riggs, Brett H. Cherokee Heritage Trails Guidebook. University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill (2003). ISBN 0-8078-5457-3