Murray city i Salt Lake county i Utah i USA

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The Pony Express traveled through central Murray, along what is now State Street. The Utah Pony Express Station Number 9 was located near present-day 6200 State Street and was called ”Travelers' Rest”, but the accommodations were meager, consisting of a stable and one-room bunk house. The Overland Stagecoach later made use of Travelers' Rest during its period of operation. The Sons of Utah Pioneers erected a monument at 7200 State Street in Midvale commemorating the station.

The area remained agricultural until 1869 when a body of ore was found in Park City, Utah, and additional ore deposits were found in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Because of Murray's central location and access to the railroad, the first smelter was built there in 1870 and over the next 30 years Murray became home to some of the largest smelters of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc in the region.

The first official post office was established in 1870 as the South Cottonwood Post Office. The area changed over time as the railroad came in, smelting expanded, the territorial road (later known as State Street) was established, and trolley transportation was developed. A business district also began to develop along the transportation corridor. (See also Murray Downtown Historic District and Murray Downtown Residential Historic District.)

After a riot and fire were started by a rowdy group of smelter workers in a local saloon, a local newspaper editor began agitating for the settlement to be incorporated. The final incorporation committee drafted a petition in 1901 and created an intense campaign on both sides of the incorporation battle. An incorporation election was held on November 18, 1902. Those in favor won, and C.L. Miller was elected Mayor by a margin of three votes. Salt Lake County recognized the election results as official on November 25, 1902, and the city was officially recognized as a Third Class City by the State of Utah on January 3, 1903.

The city received its present name from the post office, which had officially changed its name from South Cottonwood Post Office to Murray Post Office in 1883, after the Civil War general, Eli Murray, territorial governor of Utah from 1880 to 1886.