Murphy, Idaho
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Murphy census division. It lies in ZIP code area 83650. It stands on South Fork Rabbit Creek. The Survey maps it on the Murphy quadrangle. 96 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,802 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Murphy
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 3 records
Bernard's Ferrylisted 1978
Noble Horse Barnlisted 1991
Owyhee County Courthouselisted 1982
Population over time
2 figuresMurphy fell from 97 to 96 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 97 | |
| 2020 | 96 | -1 (-1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 13 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1892 USGS Silver City quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1894 USGS Silver City quadrangle1:125000
- 1898 USGS Silver City quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1955 USGS Boise quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Boise quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Boise quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Silver City quadrangle1:62500
- 1986 USGS Murphy quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS Murphy quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
16 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of Murphy between 1996 and 2020, burning about 11,812 acres in total. 6 started naturally. None was 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 6 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 August 1996 | Natural | 533 acres | Boise District | CON SHEA |
| 8 July 2002 | Natural | 1,346 acres | Boise District | GUFF |
| 4 July 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 9.0 acres | Boise District | MM34 HWY78 |
| 31 July 1997 | Natural | 5.0 acres | Boise District | SINKERBUTT |
| 28 July 2017 | Natural | 993 acres | Boise District | MURPHY FLAT |
| 2 July 2006 | Natural | 1,356 acres | Boise District | GUFF |
| 12 July 2001 | Natural | 365 acres | Boise District | STRIKE BAS |
| 8 June 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13 acres | Boise District | CON SHEA |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
8 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Murphy: 6 occurrences, 1 unknown, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Mercury, Geothermal, Volcanic Materials, Pumice. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pumice | Pumice | Unknown | ||
| Pumicite Deposit | Volcanic Materials | Occurrence | ||
| Fletcher & Brunzell | Mercury | Occurrence | Cinnabar | |
| Geothermal Location | Geothermal | Occurrence | ||
| Newt Wright | Geothermal | Prospect | ||
| Owyhee Mercury Property | Mercury | Occurrence | ||
| Rock & Paul Cinnabar | Mercury | Occurrence | ||
| T. Blackstock | Geothermal | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
15 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Murphy in 15 storm reports between 1995 and 2023: 6 flash flood, 3 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood. The reports record 1 death. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2009 | Flash Flood | Murphy | 1 killed | Flash Flooding was reported by law enforcement along Highway 78 and closed a section from Grandview to Walters Ferry, Idaho. A fatality occured when a vehicle was swept into the Snake River near Murphy, Idaho. |
| June 2023 | Flood | Murphy | - | Water and mud was reported flowing over Highway 78 near mile post 28. |
| June 2022 | Hail | Murphy | - | A member of the public posted a photo of hail on social media. |
| August 2022 | Flood | Murphy | - | A member of the public submitted a photo of flash flooding in Rabbit Creek which washed out one road. |
| August 2022 | Hail | Murphy | - | A member of the public submitted this photo via social media. |
| August 2022 | Heavy Rain | Murphy | - | A spotter reported 1.2 inches of rainfall with a passing thunderstorm and created localized flooding nearby. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Murphy | - | A member of the public reported three trees blown down from thunderstorm gust on social media. |
| September 2013 | Flash Flood | Murphy | - | Water and mud flowed across sections of Highway 78 between Murphy and Eagle View subdivision about 4 miles north of Murphy. A car was washed off a road and a person was rescued from the vehicle. Rabbit Creek caused erosion of a secondary road near Murphy. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Murphy | - | A trained spotter reported a large tree was uprooted and a rock wall was partially destroyed. |
| May 2004 | Flash Flood | Murphy | - | Very heavy rain from an overhead thunderstorm caused mud and debris to wash across streets in a housing subdivision. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Murphy | - | Reported from Swan Falls dam Idaho Power. |
| August 2003 | Flash Flood | Murphy | - | Sinker Creek overflowed banks |
| May 1997 | Flash Flood | Murphy | - | A very slow moving thunderstorm dumped heavy rain upon the Owyhee Mountains of Southwest Idaho. Flash flooding ensued which left one foot of water on highway 78. Numerous dry washes and gullies were flowing with water. |
| September 1997 | Flash Flood | Murphy | - | Heavy showers over south west Idaho during the afternoon of September 11th produced minor flash flooding near the town of Murphy in Owyhee County. A spotter reported water and debris over highway 78 at mileposts 14 and 22. No damage or injuries reported. |
| July 1995 | Hail | Murphy | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guffey | 5.4 miles | 15 | |
| Sinker (historical) | 7.1 miles | 13 | |
| Reynolds | 10.2 miles | 13 | |
| Wilson | 11.2 miles | 14 | |
| Slacks Corner | 13.8 miles | 13 | |
| Oreana | 14.1 miles | 18 | |
| Democrat | 14.5 miles | 14 | |
| Givens Hot Springs | 16.5 miles | 14 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Murphy | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q961918 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 374082. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
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.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.








