Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Murfreesboro was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1913 on and the census since 1880.
The Murfreesboro post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Murfreesboro is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Arkansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Arkansas town has 20.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Murfreesboro’s 22.0 sits near the middle of its state (56% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Murfreesboro’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Murfreesboro.
Located in Murfreesboro is the 1,000-year-old Ka-Do-Ha Indian Village and museum dedicated to it, which offers a field that can be excavated for authentic arrowheads.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
2026Downtown Murfreesboro, AR 005
2026Downtown Murfreesboro, AR 004
2026Downtown Murfreesboro, AR 003
2026Downtown Murfreesboro, AR 002
2026Downtown Murfreesboro, AR 001
2026AR 301 turns in downtown
2026Untitled photo
2026AR 26 reassurance marker in
2026AR 26 and AR 27 in
2016Murfreesboro Cities Service Station
2016Conway Hotel
2009Hybrid
2007Star of
2005ARMap-doton-MurfreesboroEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Murfreesboro. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Murfreesboro.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1913Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Between 84 and 1,883 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Murfreesboro’s Wikipedia page.
Murfreesboro’s post office has been open since 1851.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Murfreesboro post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Murfreesboro is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
4 listings: 3 buildings and 1 site.
10% of Murfreesboro’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1978.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (14), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
