Established in September 1843, Murphysboro is the second county seat of Jackson County. The town's creation is tied to the disastrous fire which destroyed the courthouse in the first county seat,
Brownsville. The fire proved to be the catalyst to move the county seat to a more central location. The name was decided for the new town when William C. Murphy's name was drawn from a hat containing the names of the three commissioners who chose the new location, a tract of land donated by Dr. John Logan and Elizabeth Logan. The son of the site's donors, Major General
John A. Logan, later became a volunteer general in the
Civil War. General Logan is also remembered for a distinguished political career, serving as Illinois' US senator from 1871 to 1877 and 1880–1886, as well as for running for
vice president in 1884. At the time of his death he was considered a presidential hopeful. Logan's greatest legacy, however, is his creation of
Memorial Day as a national holiday. The economy of Murphysboro was based on coal for many of its growing years. It was also important in industry and transportation. On March 18, 1925, at around 2:30 pm, 234 people were killed when the
Tri-State tornado hit Murphysboro. This number exceeds the death toll of any single community in a tornado event in U.S. history. Murphysboro was essentially destroyed.
Another F4 affected the area on December 18, 1957, causing intense damage to the southeast portion of the town. The city was heavily affected by the
May 2009 Southern Midwest derecho, which destroyed houses, brought down power lines, and left the town without electricity for a week. One man was killed by a falling tree limb. In 2017, the total
solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 had its point of longest duration (2 minutes, 41.7 seconds) near Murphysboro, at a point about 8 kilometers to the southeast (89.4030 degrees west longitude, 37.69335 degrees north latitude) in Giant City State Park.
Revitalization efforts , November 2013|leftIn recent years, business and tourism organizations have been at the front of renewing interest in the town as a center of historical and cultural tourism. Murphysboro's
General John A. Logan Museum, the Murphysboro Tourism Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce, and Friends of Murphysboro have been working together to restore interest in the maintenance of architectural treasures such as the band shell in Riverside Park, an example of the type of large-scale project of the
Works Progress Administration; the Robert W. Hamilton House, a nearly intact example of 19th-century
Carpenter Gothic architecture; and the Liberty Theater, once a $1-movie house now converted into a center for regional film festivals, nostalgia nights, and concerts. The Logan Museum Neighborhood has been the site of a project designed to convert some of the neighborhood's homes into exhibit and gallery spaces. The neighborhood currently consists of the Shayley House, the Hughes House, the Horsfield Printshop, and the Bular House. The Bular House contains the museum's main offices and exhibit spaces. The Shayley House is the headquarters of the Murphysboro Tourism Commission and host to an exhibit detailing the town's history. The Hughes House is dedicated gallery space available to local artists. The Horsfield Printshop is the only building of the four not open to the general public. It houses a seamstress shop that produces replica clothing for local schools and the General John A. Logan Museum. ==Geography==