Murphy Community

Duane's take

Now, I'm drawing this straight from the official marker, here's the story of Murphy Community, the way the record tells it. Out on the Blackland Prairie of Collin County, there's a kind of ground that'll make a farmer stop and just stare. Tall grasses, black fertile soil, rainfall that actually shows up when you need it.

That's the ground Murphy sits on, and it's been pulling people in since the early 1840s. Those first settlers came from just about everywhere east of the Mississippi. Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia.

They weren't running toward something so much as they were chasing two simple things: cheap land and a better way of life. And that Blackland Prairie didn't disappoint. From 1880 all the way to 1970, Murphy was farming and ranching country, plain and true.

The founding families who put down the deepest roots were the Maxwells, the McMillens, and the Murphys. They established the agricultural heart of this community, and when the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad came through in 1888, it was a man named William Murphy who gave the right of way, and that's when the community received the name Murphy.

Now, naming a place is one thing. Making it a city is another thing entirely. That official step didn't come until 1958.

Before the Civil War, several merchandising families arrived and they weren't just passing through. They planted themselves so firmly in Murphy that their presence lasted well into the 1980s. General stores went up as the community grew, and the last of them, the Old Murphy Grocery, held on all the way to the late 1980s.

Schools followed too. In 1938, the Old Murphy School was established, and it served the community until 1950, when it was consolidated into the Plano Independent School District. Rather than let that old building go quiet, it was revitalized into a community and recreation center.

But by 1970, something shifted. The agrarian lifestyle that had defined Murphy for nearly a century began to fade as urban areas developed and expanded. People migrated toward communities with small lots to purchase, and Murphy's population dwindled, dramatically, by the marker's own word.

That could've been the end of the story. But it wasn't. In the 1980s, Murphy's population rose again, drawn in by something new: proximity to the Dallas Metroplex.

The same land that once grew crops was now growing suburbs. From pioneer families chasing cheap land in the 1840s, to a railroad stop in 1888, to a city in 1958, to a Dallas suburb in the 1980s. Murphy's been reinventing itself all along.

Turns out that black fertile soil wasn't just good for farming. It had staying power.

What the marker says

Murphy was primarily an agricultural community from 1880-1970. Murphy thrived in farming and ranching because of its location in the Blackland Prairie which was covered with tall grasses, black fertile soil and abundant rainfall. The first settlers to Murphy in the early 1840s originated from Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, North and South Carolina and Virginia. They were looking for cheap land and a better way of life. The community was named Murphy in 1888 when William Murphy gave right of way to the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad, but the City of Murphy was not officially established until 1958. The founding pioneer families of Murphy were the Maxwell, McMillen and Murphy families. A community of agriculture was established by these pioneering families. Before the Civil War several merchandising families arrived in Murphy and would remain in the community well into the 1980s. Because of the growing community, general stores were built, and the last Old Murphy Grocery survived until the late 1980s. Schools were also erected in the growing community. In 1938, the Old Murphy School was established but once consolidated into the Plano Independent School District in 1950, it was revitalized into a community and recreation center. By 1970, the population dwindled dramatically as the agrarian lifestyle changed with the development of urban areas. As cities expanded, people migrated to communities with small lots to purchase. Murphy’s population again rose in the 1980s as it became a suburb of the Dallas Metroplex.