Whether you have been in the area for years or are a recent transplant, you may be interested in knowing that Murfreesboro was born on a small, 60 acre tract of land in Rutherford County, Tennessee. This particular land had belonged to Lt. Col. Archibald Lytle and was granted to him in 1786 for his service in the Revolutionary War; The Col’s land holdings in the area was quite extensive, having received 7,200 acres for his service. Archibald died without ever having children and willed his land holdings to his brother, Capt William Lytle. William and his wife, Nancy Taylor Little, moved from Hillsboro, NC and established a settlement on the West Fork of the Stone’s River around 1799.

Our town is actually named after the Lytle’s friend Col. Hardy Murfree, who also had significant land holdings in the area. He owned more than 35,000 acres of land in Tennessee, all granted to him for his service in the revolutionary War. Upon his death, Col. Murfree’s will was distributed amongst his seven children. You may be most familiar with a tract of land on which a modest home was built by Sally Murfree and her husband Dr. James Maney....today it is still called the Oaklands Plantation.

Much of Murfreesboro has been carved from that same land owned by the Lytle, Murfree and Maney families. Descendants of all these families still reside in Murfreesboro.

Posted By: Karen Boynton

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