Murphys Hotel

Built in 1856. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. 13 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1891.

From the record

“The Murphys Hotel in Murphys, California, is one of the oldest hotels still operating in the state of California. It was formerly known as Sperry and Perry Hotel, and the Mitchler Hotel.”
Wikipedia article Murphys Hotel, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 16 National Register listings published here for Calaveras County · listed in 1971 · category: Building · built in 1856.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. Main and Algiers Sts., Murphys, 95247
When was it listed? November 1971
Category. building
Census division. Angels City
When was it built? 1856
National Register reference number. 71000134 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Then and now

1891 to 2001

The ground this property stands on, surveyed 110 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet covering Murphys Hotel, surveyed 2001

Topographic sheet covering Murphys Hotel, surveyed 1891

Fires near this property

311 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 311 fires within 5 miles of Murphys Hotel between 1992 and 2020, burning about 924 acres in total. 23 started naturally. 29 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	106
Equipment and vehicle use	65
Debris and open burning	62
Arson/incendiarism	29
Natural	23
Power generation/transmission/distribution	9
Misuse of fire by a minor	7
Smoking	6
Recreation and ceremony	4

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
9 September 2011	Natural	under an acre	Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit	BLUFF
9 September 2008	Equipment and vehicle use	4.0 acres	Central California Area Office	NINE
9 September 1998	Natural	under an acre	Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit	LIGHTNING 4
9 September 1993	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit	POAG
7 September 1997	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	15 acres	Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit	CAMP
6 September 2012	Natural	7.5 acres	Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit	2-7
6 September 1995	Equipment and vehicle use	2.0 acres	Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit	WALTERS
6 September 1992	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit	HWY 4 #8

Every fire recorded in Calaveras County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 505 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 505 workings within 5 miles of Murphys Hotel: 193 occurrences, 158 past producers, 112 unknowns, 38 producers. 38 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Manganese, Gold, Silver, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Cataract Slurry Plant	Calcium	Producer
Collier Mine	Gold, Zinc, Silver, Copper, Lead, Antimony	Past Producer	Antimony, Gold, Sphalerite
Dodson	Gold, Copper, Lead	Past Producer	Chalcopyrite, Galena
Douglas Flat	Gold, Platinum	Producer	1848
Douglas Flat	Gold, PGE	Unknown
Madrid Mine	Chromium, Iron	Past Producer	1916, 1917
Marjon	Cobalt, Nickel	Occurrence	Vein
Murphy Divide Mine	Gold, Silver, Lead	Past Producer	Replacement
Oro Plata Mine	Antimony	Occurrence
Oro Y Plata	Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Tin, Zinc, Mercury	Past Producer	Cinnabar, Gold, Stibnite

Every working recorded in Calaveras County

Maps showing this location

13 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

1891 USGS Big Trees quadrangle1:125000
1894 USGS Big Trees quadrangle1:125000
1897 USGS Big Trees quadrangle1:125000
1901 USGS Big Trees quadrangle1:125000 - 9 printings
1947 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1948 USGS Columbia quadrangle1:62500 - 6 printings
1948 USGS Murphys quadrangle1:24000 - 3 printings
1948 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000
1949 USGS Murphys quadrangle1:24000 - 2 printings
1956 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1957 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000 - 4 printings
1993 USGS San Andreas quadrangle1:100000
2001 USGS Murphys quadrangle1:24000

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Murphys Grammar School	0.4 miles	1973
Douglas Flat School	1.5 miles	1973
Sam Choy Brick Store	6.2 miles	1984
Calaveras County Bank	6.2 miles	1985
Utica Mansion	6.3 miles	1984
Altaville Grammar School	6.5 miles	1979

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 71000134 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Calaveras County	All 16 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.