The Murphy Hotel (or Murphy's Hotel) was once a leading hotel in downtown

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. Its location was at the corner of 8th and Broad Streets and for the last decade was known as the Commonwealth of Virginia's Eighth Street Office Building. The building shared a block with the

Hotel Richmond Once a leading hotel in downtown Richmond, Virginia, the Hotel Richmond overlooks the Thomas Jefferson designed State Capitol in Capitol Square. One of the rare gilded-age hotels built by a woman entrepreneur, the Hotel Richmond is now owned by th ...

, also known as the state's Ninth Street office building, and St. Peter's Church. It was deconstructed in late 2007 to give way to a modern high-rise that will house offices for the

Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United Stat ...

History

The original hotel was built in 1872 by John Murphy, an Irish immigrant, and former

Confederate soldier The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. He renovated his oyster shack by opening multiple rooms above it, giving birth to the Murphy Hotel. In 1886, all new buildings and an elevated walkway over 8th Street were completed. An annex would eventually be built across 8th street in 1902 with another being built in 1907 between Broad and Grace Streets. Murphy would completely demolish the hotel in 1913 and would hire local architect John Kevan Peebles to replace it with a larger 11-story building, with the project being a success. After John Murphy died in 1918, his son-in-law, James T. Disney, would run the hotel until his eventual death in 1933. The Board of Directors of The Richmond Hotels, Inc. would take hold of the Murphy Hotel in 1939, changing its name to the King Carter Hotel in 1949. The hotel was later sold to the state, and in 1969 was converted into numerous offices. By the late 1990s, the hotel and the annex were in a highly deteriorated state. The hotel would be demolished in 2007 by the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

to make way for a modern high-rise that will serve as housing for offices of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

References

Photos of Murphy's Hotel & its demolition
{{US-hotel-struct-stub History of Richmond, Virginia Hotels in Richmond, Virginia Skyscrapers in Richmond, Virginia Skyscraper hotels in Virginia Defunct hotels in Virginia Demolished hotels in the United States Buildings and structures demolished in 2007 Demolished buildings and structures in Virginia