Murfreesboro

For about thirty days the town was Cannonsburgh, named for the political figure Newton Cannon. Then William Lytle, who had given the land for the Public Square, a cemetery and the First Presbyterian Church, specified that it be renamed for Hardy Murfree, a Revolutionary War friend, for reasons nobody recorded. The legislature chartered Murfreesborough in 1811 and made it the county seat in place of Jefferson, because Murfreesboro's population was more concentrated. Railroad service arrived in 1851, and the Civil War made the town's name a household word.

What the plaque says

Murfreesboro First settlers came in 1799; the settlement was first named Cannonsburg. It was actually founded in 1811 on land donated by Capt. William Lytle, who stipulated that the town should be named for Hardee Murfree, a Revolutionary veteran of Williamson County. From June, 1818 through April, 1828, it was the capital of the state.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Stones River National Battlefield — 4.9 mi
  The Murfreesboro battlefield of December 1862, with a national cemetery built by Black soldiers, a Trail of Tears route and the story of the freedmen's settlement called Cemetery.
• Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration — 23 mi
  The Shelbyville show grounds where the Tennessee Walking Horse has been crowned world grand champion each late summer since 1939, and where the practice of soring is part of the story.
• Henry Horton State Park — 24 mi
  A Duck River park on Governor Henry Horton's former farm in Marshall County, with a mill ruin from 1845, kayak floats and the grave of a governor the House declined to impeach.
• Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park — 28 mi
  A 2,000-year-old enclosure of piled stone and earth on the bluffs above the forks of the Duck River, built by Native people between about 80 and 550 A.D., with a museum and waterfall trails.

More markers nearby

• First Baptist Church (East Castle Street) — 1.2 mi
• Dr. James Robertson Patterson — 1.3 mi
• Holloway High School, 1929-1968 — 1.3 mi
• Bradley Academy — 1.3 mi