Murray is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, located in Shoshone County, Idaho. It is approximately north of Wallace along Dobson Pass Road. Prichard Creek flows through the community, forming a thin and deep valley in the surrounding

Coeur d'Alene Mountains The Coeur d'Alene Mountains are the northwesternmost portion of the Bitterroot Range, part of the Rocky Mountains, located in northern Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mount ...

History

The community was named for George Murray, a

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

prospector. Murray was one of several boisterous mining camps that became active in the late 1880s in northern Idaho, and mines operated in the area from the 1880s to the 1950s. In 1884, a judge fined

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman in the American West, including Dodge City, Kansas, Dodge City, Wichita, Kansas, Wichita, and Tombstone, Arizona, Tombstone. Earp was involved in the gunfight ...

$65 for claim jumping after he forced William Payne off his land at gunpoint near Murray. There was never a Northern Pacific line serving Murray. The line was built by the Idaho Northern Railroad in 1908. The Idaho Northern was taken over by the Oregon–Washington Railroad and Navigation Company (OWR & N) on March 1, 1911. It served as a branch line from Enaville until the 1933 flood washed out much of the line., and it was then abandoned. A

Northern Pacific Northern Pacific may refer to: * Northern Pacific Airways, an upcoming airline * Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference, an NCAA Division I conference * Northern Pacific Hockey League, an American Tier III junior ice hockey league * Northern Paci ...

railroad line served the community for two years during the 1910s. A post office was established at Murray in 1884, and remained in operation until 1959. When roads was rebuilt over the dredge spoils in 1997 - 1998, many gold nuggets were found. 1907MurrayIdaho geologicmap

Murray's population was estimated at 500 in 1909, and was estimated at 100 in 1960. As of 2024, the population is about 25.

Notable person

The chemist and biochemist John D. Ferry (1912–2002) attended a one-room school in Murray.

Today

Two businesses remain open, the Sprag Pole Restaurant and Museum and the Bedroom Goldmine Bar. The Sprag Pole occupies one of the town's original buildings, built in 1884.

References

External links

Unincorporated communities in Shoshone County, Idaho Unincorporated communities in Idaho Mining communities in Idaho {{ShoshoneCountyID-geo-stub