Located in the old Albemarle region of North Carolina, between the Roanoke and Chowan Rivers, the Murfreesboro area was first visited be John White of Roanoke Island in the 16th century and by an expedition from Jamestown, Virginia, in the 17th century. During this era, the principal inhabitants were several Indian tribes such as the Nottoways, Meherrins and the Chowanokes.

Old deeds indicate that settlers lived on the site of Murfreesboro as early as 1710. Names such as Ganeys, Parkers, Griffiths and Maneys were among the early landowners. These new residents along the banks of the Maharani River were quick to realize that theirs was an excellent location for inland trade. William Murfree, an Irish immigrant, therefore, established a King's Landing, where exports and imports were inspected by a representative of the English Crown. The site was known as Murfree's Landing. In 1787, William Murfree donated 97 acres of land for the incorporation of the town, which was named Murfreesborough for him.

Murfreesboro was the port of call for 18th and early 19th century sailing vessels that brought New England, West Indian and European goods in trade for the naval stores and agricultural products of eastern England chapping families, such as the Wheelers, Reas, Merediths, Cowpers, Hichborns, Browns, Montgomerys and Camps.

 

The Wheeler House

Chowan College - Columns Building

The stately old homes whisper of the rich, romantic colonial and ante-bellum days. While the historic homes on Broad and Williams Streets are built of mellowed and often crumbling brick, with walls 18 to 22 inches thick, those on the other streets, including Main, are predominately wooden. These architectural masterpieces from the 18th and 19th centuries remind one of the former eras in which patriotic inhabitants repelled a British and Tory raid in 1782 and witnessed an encounter with Union forces in 1862. One may ride through the countryside where Richard Jordan Gatling, inventor of the Gatling gun, was born in 1818. Several state historians and other inventors were also born and reared here. General Lafayette and Prince Murat of France visited Murfreesboro and were entertained by the citizens of the quaint village. Dr. Walter Reed, discoverer of the cure for yellow fever, spent several childhood years here and later returned to marry a childhood acquaintance, Miss Emilie Lawrence.

William Hill Brown, the first American novelist, died here on September 2, 1793. John Hill Wheeler and Soland Borland, the first two United States Ministers to Nicaragua, were born and reared in Murfreesboro. William Nathan Harrell Smith, Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1878 to 1889, was also a native of Murfreesboro.