Editing Murfreesboro, Tennessee (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}
On October 27, 1811, the [[Tennessee General Assembly]] designated the location for a new county seat for Rutherford County, giving it the name Cannonsburgh in honor of [[Newton Cannon]], representative to the assembly for the local area. At the suggestion of William Lytle, it was renamed Murfreesborough on November 29, 1811, after Revolutionary War hero Colonel [[Hardy Murfree]], great-grandfather of author [[Mary Noailles Murfree]].<ref name="history">{{cite web |url=http://rutherfordtnhistory.org/a-history-of-rutherford-county/ |title=A History of Rutherford County |publisher=Rutherford County Tennessee Historical Society |access-date=March 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404122717/http://rutherfordtnhistory.org/a-history-of-rutherford-county/ |archive-date=April 4, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> The name was shortened to Murfreesboro in January 1812, when the town was formally chartered.<ref name="wgns20170711">{{cite news |url=https://www.wgnsradio.com/murfreesboros-200th-birthday-celebration-cms-2349 |title=Murfreesboro's 200th Birthday Celebration |publisher=WGNS |date=July 11, 2011 |access-date=March 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325024029/https://www.wgnsradio.com/murfreesboros-200th-birthday-celebration-cms-2349 |archive-date=March 25, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Gannett1905">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ |title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |series=Geological Survey Bulletin, no. 258 |edition=2nd |first=Henry |last=Gannett |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n217 218] |year=1905 |oclc=1156805 |access-date=October 16, 2016 }}</ref>

As Tennessee settlement expanded to the west, the location of the state capital in [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]] became inconvenient for much of the population. In 1818, Murfreesboro was designated as the capital of Tennessee and its population boomed. Eight years later, however, it was superseded by Nashville.<ref name="murfhistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.murfreesborotn.gov/visiting/history.htm |title=History of Murfreesboro, TN |work=MurfreesboroTN.gov |access-date=May 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429175608/http://www.murfreesborotn.gov/visiting/history.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=April 29, 2007}}</ref>

===Civil War===
On December 31, 1862, the [[Battle of Stones River]], also called the Battle of Murfreesboro, was fought near the city between the Union [[Army of the Cumberland]] and the Confederate [[Army of Tennessee]]. This was a major engagement of the [[American Civil War]], and between December 31 and January 2, 1863, the rival armies suffered a combined total of 23,515 casualties.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/tn010.htm |title=Battle Summary: Stones River |publisher=US National Park Service |access-date=December 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110821061749/http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/tn010.htm |archive-date=August 21, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> It was the bloodiest battle of the war by percentage of casualties.

Following the Confederate retreat after the drawn [[Battle of Perryville]] in central Kentucky, the Confederate army moved through East Tennessee and turned northwest to defend Murfreesboro. General [[Braxton Bragg]]'s veteran cavalry successfully harassed Union General [[William Rosecrans]]{{'}} troop movements, capturing and destroying many of his supply trains, but they could not completely prevent supplies and reinforcements from reaching Rosecrans. Despite the large number of casualties, the battle was inconclusive. It is usually considered a Union victory, since afterward, General Bragg retreated {{convert|36|mi}} south to [[Tullahoma, Tennessee|Tullahoma]]. Even so, the Union army did not [[Tullahoma Campaign|move against Bragg]] until six months later, in June 1863. The battle was significant, since the Union gained a base from which it could push its eventual drive further south, which enabled its later advances against [[Battle of Chickamauga|Chattanooga]] and [[Battle of Atlanta|Atlanta]]. The Union eventually divided the territory into the [[Eastern Theater of the American Civil War|Eastern]] and [[Western Theater of the American Civil War|Western]] theaters, followed by [[Sherman's March to the Sea]] through the South. The [[Stones River National Battlefield]] is now a national historical site.

General Rosecrans' move to the south depended on a secure source of provisions, and Murfreesboro was chosen for his supply depot. Soon after the battle, Brigadier General [[James St. Clair Morton]], chief engineer of the Army of the Cumberland, was ordered to build [[Old Fort Park and Golf Course|Fortress Rosecrans]], some {{convert|2|mi}} northwest of the town. The fortifications covered about {{convert|225|acre|km2}} and were the largest built during the war. Fortress Rosecrans consisted of eight [[Lunette (fortification)|lunettes]], four [[redoubt]]s, and connecting fortifications. The fortress was built around the [[Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad]] and the West Fork of the [[Stones River]]; two roads provided additional access and transportation.

The fort's interior was a huge logistical resource center, including sawmills, warehouses, quartermaster maintenance depots, ammunition magazines, and living quarters for the 2,000 men who handled the operations and defended the post. After the fortress was completed in June 1863, Rosecrans ventured to the south.<ref name="urlTN Encyclopedia: FORTRESS ROSECRANS">{{cite web |url=https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/fortress-rosecrans/ |title=TN Encyclopedia: FORTRESS ROSECRANS |access-date=February 23, 2025}}</ref> The fortress was never attacked, in part because the Union troops held the town of Murfreesboro hostage by training their artillery on the courthouse. Major portions of the earthworks still exist and have been incorporated into the battlefield historic site.

===Post-Civil War===
Murfreesboro was first developed as a mainly agricultural community, but by 1853, the area was home to several colleges and academies. Despite the wartime trauma, the town's growth had begun to recover by the early 1900s, in contrast to other areas of the devastated South.

In 1911, the state legislature created Middle Tennessee State Normal School, a two-year institute to train teachers. It soon merged with the Tennessee College for Women. In 1925, the normal school was expanded to a full, four-year curriculum and college. With additional expansion of programs and addition of graduate departments in 1965, it became [[Middle Tennessee State University]].<ref name="urlFacts-MTSU">{{cite web |url=http://www.mtsu.edu/about_facts.shtml |title=Facts |publisher=Middle Tennessee State University |access-date=November 19, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119053321/http://mtsu.edu/about_facts.shtml |archive-date=November 19, 2010}}</ref> MTSU now has the largest undergraduate enrollment in the state, including many international students.

[[World War II]] was an impetus for industrial development, and Murfreesboro diversified into industry, manufacturing, and education. Growth has been steady since that time, creating a stable economy.

Since the last decade of the 20th century, Murfreesboro has enjoyed substantial residential and commercial growth, with its population increasing 123.9% between 1990 and 2010, from 44,922 to 108,755.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.murfreesborotn.gov/default.aspx?ekmenu=160&id=3140 |title=Murfreesboro History |publisher=City of Murfreesboro |date=2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100929041016/http://www.murfreesborotn.gov/default.aspx?ekmenu=160&id=3140 |archive-date=September 29, 2010}}</ref> The city has been a destination for many refugee immigrants who have left areas affected by warfare; since 1990, numerous people from [[Somalia]] and [[Kurds]] from [[Iraq]] have settled there.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} The city has also attracted numerous international students to the university.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=MTSU services nation's largest Kurdish community
|url=https://www.murfreesboropost.com/news/mtsu-services-nation-s-largest-kurdish-community/article_5492ca10-e902-58f9-a075-c743fcbd03ae.html|work=The Murfreesboro Post|date=August 18, 2010|access-date=June 2, 2020}}</ref>

====Mosque controversy====
{{Main|Islamic Center of Murfreesboro}}
Beginning in 2010, the [[Islamic Center of Murfreesboro]] faced protests related to its plan to build a new {{convert|12000|ft2|adj=on}} mosque. The county planning council had approved the project, but opposition grew in the aftermath, affected by this being a year of elections. Signs on the building site were vandalized, with the first saying "not welcome" sprayed across it and the second being cut in two.<ref name="time20100919">{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2011847,00.html |title=In Murfreesboro, Tenn.: Church 'Yes,' Mosque 'No' |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |first=Elizabeth |last=Kauffman |date=August 19, 2010 |access-date=July 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811192437/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2011847,00.html |archive-date=August 11, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Construction equipment was also torched by arsonists.<ref name="cbs20100930">{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fire-at-tenn-mosque-building-site-ruled-arson/ |title=Fire at Tenn. Mosque Building Site Ruled Arson |work=Associated Press via CBS News |date=August 30, 2010 |access-date=July 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813125849/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/28/national/main6814690.shtml |archive-date=August 13, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In August 2011, a Rutherford County judge upheld his previous decision allowing the mosque to be built, noting the US constitutional right to religious freedom and the ICM's observance of needed process.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110831/NEWS01/308310117/Judge-upholds-ruling-Murfreesboro-mosque |title=Judge upholds ruling for Murfreesboro mosque |author=Broden, Scott |date=August 31, 2011 |work=The Tennessean |publisher=Gannett Tennessee |access-date=September 4, 2011}}{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The center has a permanent membership of around 250 families and a few hundred students from the university.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/WN/murfreesboro-tennessee-mosque-plan-draws-criticism-residents/story?id=10956381 |title=Plan for Mosque in Tennessee Town Draws Criticism from Residents |author=Blackburn, Bradley |date=June 18, 2010 |work=ABC News |access-date=September 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111218194158/http://abcnews.go.com/WN/murfreesboro-tennessee-mosque-plan-draws-criticism-residents/story?id=10956381 |archive-date=December 18, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> The case ultimately attracted national media attention as an issue of religious freedom.

====2023 ordinance on homosexuality====
In June 2023, the city passed an ordinance banning public homosexuality as indecent.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hansford |first=Amelia |date=November 11, 2023 |title=Officials are gunning for LGBTQ+ library books with sinister ordinance banning 'public homosexuality' |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/11/11/tennessee-book-ban-public-ordinance-banning-homosexuality/ |access-date=November 13, 2023 |website=PinkNews }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Reed |first=Erin |title=City Ordinance Banning Public Homosexuality Reaches Rutherford County Libraries |url=https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/city-ordinance-banning-public-homosexuality |access-date=November 13, 2023 |website=www.erininthemorning.com |language=en}}</ref>  In October 2023, the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] <!-- (ACLU) --> filed suit against the city, in response to the ban<ref>{{cite news |title=City of Murfreesboro amends ordinance banning public homosexuality |author=Brianna Hamblin |date=November 18, 2023 |work= WTVF |url=https://www.newschannel5.com/news/city-of-murfreesboro-amends-ordinance-banning-public-homosexuality#:~:text=MURFREESBORO%2C%20Tenn.,against%20the%20city%20in%20response. |accessdate=November 18, 2023}}</ref> and, in December 2023, the ordinance was repealed.<ref>{{Cite tweet | author=Murfreesboro Holler| user=TheBoroHoller |number=1738385882225295378 |title=INBOX: We're told MURFREESBORO @cityofmborotn just quietly repealed their controversial "decency ordinance", which was being used as cover for anti-LGBTQ censorship. }}</ref>