ZIP Code 42071

Murray is a home rule-class city in Calloway County, Kentucky, United States. The city's population was 17,741 during the 2010 U.S. census, and its micropolitan area's population is 37,191. Murray is a college town and is the home of Murray State University. It is situated 15 miles (24 km) west of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, which offers hiking, elk and bison viewing, birding, 1850s historic buildings, a planetarium, a nature center, off-highway vehicle riding, fishing, boating, camping, and a large wildlife population. Murray has had several tornadoes and storms in recent years and has been the site of two F4 tornadoes in Kentucky and surrounding states in 2008 and 2009. A commemoration was held on October 28, 2014, for the 150th Civil War anniversary of Fort Fort 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Murray was strongly pro-Confederate during the Civil War, and parts of the town were burned by the Union Army in retaliation for its presumed support for the Confederate guerrillas. An estimated 800 men from the area joined in the Confederate Army, either as infantry in the Kentucky Orphan Brigade or in the cavalry. About 200 sided with the Union. The Confederate Monument was donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and was subject to calls for removal most recently in 2020. The County Court voted unanimously in 2020 to keep the statue rather than relocate it from courthouse grounds.

History

The city now known as Murray began as a post office and trading center sometime in the early 1820s. It was at first called Williston in honor of James Willis, an early settler. The name was changed again to Pleasant Springs before its incorporation on January 17, 1844, when the present name was adopted to honor Rep. John Murray. Both Murray and Calloway County were strongly pro-Confederate during the Civil War. An estimated 800 men from the area joined in the Confederate Army, either as infantry in the Kentucky Orphan Brigade or in the cavalry. The Confederate Monument was donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and has been subject to calls for removal most recently in 2020. The County Court voted unanimously in 2020 to keep the statue rather than relocate it from courthouse grounds. The town Murray was laid out on an 80-acre (320,000 m2) plot subdivided into 137 business and residential lots divided by eight streets. In 1842, the state legislature divided the area, creating Marshall County. It was felt that a more centrally located county seat was needed, and as the village of Murray was at the geographic center, it was chosen. No major battles were fought near the town, but guerrilla warfare sometimes took place nearby. In the spring of 1862, a Union force stationed in Paducah marched across the county to the Tennessee River, taking anything it wanted from the inhabitants without paying. Once, part of the town was burned by the Union Army in retaliation for its presumed support for the Confederate guerrillas.

Demographics and geography

Murray is located at 36°3634N 88°1856W (36.609494, 88.315656), 7 miles (11 km) north of the Tennessee border. Benton is 19 miles (31 km) to the north, and Mayfield is 24 miles (39 km) away. The city has a humid subtropical climate and four distinct seasons. The warmest month of the year is July, with an average high temperature of 90 °F (32 °C). The coldest month is January, with a high temperature in the city of 45 °F. Murray is situated 15 miles (24 km) west of the 170,000 acres (690 km²) of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, which offers hiking, elk and bison viewing, birding, 1850s historic buildings, a planetarium, a nature center, off-highway vehicle riding, fishing, boating, swimming, camping, and a large wildlife population. Murray has had several tornadoes and storms in recent years and has been the site of two F4 tornadoes. Baptists are the most prominent religious assemblies within the surrounding area in Murray, with 28 assemblies within Murray, and 75 in the surrounding areas. Murray's population was 14,950 as of the census of 2000, with 6,004 households, and 2,869 families. The median income for a household in Murray was $25,647. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males.

Culture

Murray has three city parks that cover over 200 acres (0.8 km²) of land: Central Park, Chestnut Park, and Bee Creek. The Clara M. Eagle Gallery is a multi-level art gallery that houses around 1,200 permanent artworks. Playhouse in the Park is one of the oldest community theatres in the state of Kentucky. Murray State University participates in NCAA Division I athletics, the highest level of collegiate athletics. The men's basketball program has produced a number of NBA players, most notably Ja Morant, Jeff Martin, Popeye Jones, Isaiah Canaan, Cameron Payne, and Joe Fulks. Ralph Friedgen, Frank Beamer, Mike Gottfried, Houston Nutt, and Ron Zook have all had their coaching careers run through the Murray State football program. The university has 16 athletic programs that compete in the Ohio Valley Conference, and have provided 117 conference titles since 1948. The football program has won more than 400 games, the most decisive win coming in 1932 when Murray State beat the University of Louisville 1050 to 1,300-0. The Murray State basketball team has produced 17 NFL players and 10 first team All-Americans, as well as many coaches and players who have gone on to play in the NBA and the NFL. The theatre is open year-round and produces original works, comedies, dramas, children's theatre, and musicals. The museum highlights the social development, economic and cultural development of the people of the Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky through permanent and changing exhibits.

Education

The Murray Independent School system has been a part of the community since 1872. There have been 35 National Merit Finalists since 1974. In 2006, the Murray High School test scores were ranked as being 9th in the state of Kentucky. Murray State University, a four-year public university, was founded in 1922 as the Murray Normal School. The university offers 11 associate, 64 bachelor, and 42 master's programs, and has an enrollment of over 10,000 students. Murray has a lending library, the Calloway County Public Library, which is open to all residents of the city and surrounding areas. The Murray Independent school district is one of only 18 Kentucky school districts recognized by Standard & Poor's as an outperforming school district. The athletic program competes in Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) Class AA in football and class A in cross-country, and track, the only three sports in which the KHSAA divides schools into classes by enrollment. Other sports, most notably basketball, are conducted in a single-class format. The school system also covers numerous extracurricular activities, from band, arts, social clubs, and an academic team. The city has a public library, which was opened in 1872 and is located in the center of the town. It is currently open to residents of all parts of Murray and the surrounding area. It has a collection of more than 1,000 books, and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Infrastructure

US 641, locally known as 12th Street, is the main highway in and out of the city. US 641 from the south of Murray is a two-lane highway until it reaches the Tennessee state line. Kentucky 80 is the newest divided highway. The airport in Murray is the Murray-Calloway County Airport. The Murray Calloway Transit Authority recently started the "Racer Routes" service which provides four public bus routes throughout Murray. The KWT Railway starts one mile (1.6 km) north of Murray and travels south to Bruceton, Tennessee, where it connects with CSX railway that travels to Memphis and beyond. The water system treats 1.3 billion gallons of water per year going through 105 miles (169 km) of water main piping. The sewer treatment plant was built in 1992 with a capacity of 7 million gallons per day. The natural gas service has roughly 5,500 customers, in which 1,300,000 cubic feet (37,000 m3) is used per year. The electric system is locally owned and governed and gets all of its energy from the Tennessee Valley Authority. In turn, electric customers in Murray enjoy one of the lowest electric rates in the United States. The cost is around 7.2 cents per kilowatt hour. In recent years, MES has branched out into telecommunications. It offers internet service with speeds of up to 12 Mbit/s, home telephone service, and digital cable television service. It also has services for those who do not have a vehicle.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Murray, Calloway County, Kentucky = 87. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 80. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 99. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Murray = 4.7 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 17,307 individuals with a median age of 28.9 age the population grows by 3.59% in Murray, Calloway County, Kentucky population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,485.58 residents per square mile of area (573.57/km²). There are average 1.97 people per household in the 6,451 households with an average household income of $29,709 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 8.00% of the available work force and has dropped -3.14% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 25.72%. The number of physicians in Murray per 100,000 population = 168.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Murray = 53.4 inches and the annual snowfall = 9.3 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 107. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 197. 90 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 27 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 29, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Murray, Calloway County, Kentucky which are owned by the occupant = 43.03%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 36 years with median home cost = $107,020 and home appreciation of 4.47%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $6.90 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,630 per student. There are 15.8 students for each teacher in the school, 534 students for each Librarian and 414 students for each Counselor. 2.94% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 18.38% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 15.77% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).