MURRAY — Residents of this vibrant city in the heart of the Salt Lake Valley like to think they have the world at their fingertips.
They can buy a car, shop at the mall, shoot hoops, swim, ice skate, golf, bike or stroll by the river, go out to eat, have a drink, work, worship, live in a clean neighborhood, pay lower property taxes, enjoy their own school district and power company — and never have to leave their home city.
What Murray residents may not realize is how much of the world is a part of their fingertips. Murray's history reveals a melting pot of European culture and heritage.
The discovery of copper, lead, silver and gold in the mountain canyons led to the birth of the smelter industry in Murray. Its first smelter opened in 1869 and as many as 16 smokestacks dotted the Murray landscape at one time.
Thousands of immigrants from southern and central Europe flooded the area to work in the smelters. They joined the northern and western European pioneers who largely made their living from agriculture.
The mix wasn't always an easy or peaceful one. But the Greeks, Italians, Yugoslavians, Armenians and others drawn by the Murray smelters gave the community a truly unique flavor, and continue to do so today. Family names like Vicchrilli, Godsnik, Prpich, Sharich and Tomich are still found here.
"Because of the smelter influence, it has a very distinct personality of its own," said Mary Ann Kirk, Murray's cultural arts director. "It brought a whole different ethnic group into the community, and even in the cemetery you can see it."
This Friday and Saturday, Murray will celebrate its Centennial with a parade, film festival, birthday party, fireworks and a sneak preview of the city's first museum, which will open its doors at City Hall in late January.
Murray's history stretches back to 1848 when the first settlers arrived, but this week's festivities commemorate the Jan. 3, 1903, incorporation of Murray as a city.
Those who participate in the planned activities can thank the rowdy behavior of some early Murray residents for the timing of this week's events.
According to written history provided by the city, an 1897 incident involving drunken cowboys and smelter workers resulted in a fire and eventually led to a successful incorporation vote six years later.
At the time of the incident, Murray had 42 saloons. And many local residents didn't think the Salt Lake County sheriff was doing a good job of policing those establishments.
A local newspaper editor led the charge, calling for the area surrounding what was known as the Murray Post Office to become its own entity to keep the undesirable behavior at a minimum.
"They felt like they were the abandoned child in the valley," said current Murray Mayor Dan Snarr.
The smelters fought the incorporation effort, fearing higher taxes. But the locals voted 294-235 to incorporate. Ironically, the mayoral candidate backed by the group who opposed incorporation was elected mayor. And by all accounts, Murray's first mayor, C.L. Miller, was instrumental in getting the fledgling government off the ground.
"C.L. grew up in a family of church and community service," said Millcreek resident Allen Anderson, the great-grandson of C.L. Miller. "But that was the first time he had ever served in public life.
"He had a farm on State Street that ran from 45th South to approximately 47th South, where all those car dealerships are now."
C.L. Miller's family, however, is no relation to the Larry H. Miller family, Anderson said. But there were a lot of Millers in Murray back when C.L. was elected — more Millers than Strattons — and Anderson speculates that's why his great-grandfather defeated James Stratton at the polls in 1902. Stratton, though, won the next election and became Murray's second mayor.
The name Murray was not so plentiful or popular, however, and the city's moniker remains a bit of an enigma.
Eli Murray, for whom the city is named, was the rather unpopular territorial governor who chased after polygamists — many of whom hid out in Murray — prior to statehood.
A local non-Mormon store owner, Harry Haynes, housed the local post office in his store. And when asked by the federal government in 1883 to recommend a name, he suggested Murray, after Eli Murray.
While that may not have been a popular choice at the time, the area originally known as South Cottonwood became increasingly referred to as Murray. When the city incorporated, that seemed like the natural choice.
"They didn't name it Snarrville, to my great disappointment, and the Snarrs were here in 1866," quipped the current mayor, who said there wasn't much controversy about the new city's name back then.
"I've talked to some of the old-time Snarrs and nobody really thought much of it."
Retired Arizona State University professor Douglas Dalgleish, a military historian and the great-grandson of Eli Murray, will give a talk on Eli Murray at the Statehood Day Luncheon on Saturday. The event will begin at 12:30 p.m. at the Desert Star Steakhouse, 4859 S. State.
On an earlier visit to Utah, Dalgleish gave Snarr some insight into what Eli Murray was really like.
"He said he used to prosecute those who were practicing polygamy but he immediately pardoned them afterward because he had so much sympathy for the wives and children," Snarr said. "There are stories that he was ruthless, but he was really a compassionate person who really loved the Mormons. But he had a job to do."
Murray has changed a lot over the years, and perhaps no one has been more involved in that ongoing process than Arlette Day. She is the former Murray Chamber of Commerce president and longtime owner of Day Murray Music, 4914 S. State, recognized as the oldest, continuous family-owned business in Murray.
Day and her husband moved to Murray from Logan in 1946 to open their music store.
"When we came to Murray, I wasn't very impressed with Murray. It seemed like about the only time they got in the news was in a negative way," said Day, who turned the business over to her two sons three years ago.
"Logan is such a cultural place. It was quite a contrast for me to come to Murray. I thought, well, I can either criticize or I can chip in and see what I can do."
Day's community involvement began with the school PTA. Among her many civic efforts, she helped start the Murray Symphony and she pushed for a municipal amphitheater, which Murray now has.
"I love Murray now, I really do," Day said. "You know, it's like your children. The more you do for them, the more you love them, even when you do have troubles."
Day and a friend began collecting artifacts for a future Murray museum in 1976. Now, finally, more than 25 years later, that dream will be realized later in January when Murray's first official museum opens at City Hall.
Items to be displayed include the hat and cane C.L. Miller was given when he became the city's first mayor. Also, the doctor's bag used by a longtime Murray obstetrician, Dr. Rothwell; a small but heavy safe once used in the ASARCO smelter office; a cabinet door with recipes for the smelting process written on it; smelter measuring cups; books; clothes; early radios and televisions; sewing machines; and many other old appliances.
A celebration of the past seems fitting for a city in the midst of transformation. The Murray smokestacks, left over from the ASARCO smelter, came down in August 2000. A huge Intermountain Health Care medical campus soon will take shape on the former smelter site.
Murray's Costco store will open this year, more property has been annexed into the city and additional redevelopment plans are on the drawing board. The city with a colorful past hopes its future will be just as bright.
At the city's birthday party, set for noon Friday at City Hall, Snarr plans to recite the inaugural address C.L. Miller gave in 1903. Snarr's favorite part is toward the end, when Miller said, "The town of Murray is your town and it will be what you make it."
"Ironically, we're in the position now where . . . we have an opportunity to make Murray what we want it to be all over again, 100 years later, because the dynamics of our city are going to be changing so radically over the next 10 years," Snarr said. "In some ways, people will not recognize some of the northern portions of Murray."
For more information about the Centennial, see the city's Web site at www.ci.murray.ut.us/commsrvc/CentennialCelebration.htm.
E-mail: zman@desnews.com