Murphy is an

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in, and

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of,

Owyhee County Owyhee County ( ) is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,133. The county seat is Murphy, and its largest city is Homedale. In area it is the second-largest county in Ida ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

, United States. It is among the smallest of county seats nationwide, with a population as of the 2010 census of 97.Spokesman-Review
- 2010 census - Murphy, Idaho - accessed 2011-12-12 Murphy is part of the Boise City–Nampa, Idaho

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

. Murphy is also located within the

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

bearing its name. Murphy is home to the Owyhee County Historical Museum and Library.

History

Murphy developed around a railhead of the Boise, Nampa and Owyhee Railroad, built in 1899 by Colonel William H. Dewey. Dewey had planned to extend the railroad to Silver City, but when mining operations in the

Owyhee Mountains The Owyhee Mountains are a mountain range in Owyhee County, Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon. Mahogany Mountain and the associated volcanic craters of the Lake Owyhee volcanic field are in the Owyhee Mountains of Oregon just east of the Owyhee R ...

became unproductive, the line was not continued past Murphy. The railroad operated until 1947. By a narrow margin, Owyhee County voters selected Murphy as county seat in 1934, succeeding Silver City (which was located in the Owyhee Mountains and had been in decline; it is now defunct). Although the county seat was moved to Murphy after the vote, and a new Owyhee County Courthouse was constructed in 1936, the Idaho State Legislature did not ratify the change of county seat until 1999. The error in the Idaho Code, discovered by county prosecutor G. Edward Yarbrough, was finally corrected by Senate Bill 1009. The community likely was named after Cornelius "Con" Murphy, a crew boss with the Boise, Nampa and Owyhee Railroad and foreman during construction of the Guffey Bridge in 1897. Another source for the name may have been Pat Murphy, a Silver City mining engineer and friend of railroad owner Dewey. Murphy's population was estimated at 100 in 1909, and was 50 in 1960.

Geography

Murphy is located at , at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of above sea level; it is south of Nampa.

Airstrip

Murphy's airstrip is situated immediately northeast of the community, without a control tower. Its asphalt runway is oriented NW-SE (12/30),AirNav.com
- airport information - Murphy, Idaho - accessed 2011-12-12 parallel with State Highway 78. The elevation drops in the northwest (30) direction, from 2,855 to 2,795 feet.

References

External links

*
Owyhee County Historical Society
- Museum & Library - Murphy, Idaho

- photo tour - Murphy, Idaho - 2008-06-13
Weather.com
- Murphy, Idaho - current conditions and forecast {{authority control Census-designated places in Idaho Census-designated places in Owyhee County, Idaho County seats in Idaho Boise metropolitan area