Murphys’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 8 old photos of Murphys. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The area around Murphys was originally occupied by the Miwok.
John Marion Murphy and Daniel Martin Murphy founded the town, they were part of the Murphy family and the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party, the first immigrant party to bring wagons across the Sierra Nevada to Sutter's Fort in 1844. They earned a living as merchants, but like many others, began prospecting when the California Gold Rush began. They first started in Vallecito, which was then known as "Murphy's Old Diggings," before moving to another location in 1848 which became "Murphys New Diggings," "Murphy's Camp," and eventually just "Murphys" in 1935.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Murphys’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Murphys’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🗓️Date a photo5 archive items have no date+2 🔁Retake an old viewDaniel Martin Murphy, 1887: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Murphys, decade by decade
1920s
1990s
unknown5 items
2 historic places in Murphys
2 places in Murphys are on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Daniel Martin Murphy (1887) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (5) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.