Murfreesboro
— — a town that holds the centre of the state.
Not only on a wall.
“A Middle Tennessee town of about 165,000 in Rutherford County, thirty-five miles southeast of Nashville. The geographic centre of the state sits at a stone obelisk on a small lot off Old Lascassas Pike. Stones River runs the western edge, where the Union and Confederate armies fought a three-day battle at the close of 1862. Middle Tennessee State University holds the southern half of town. The growth comes from Nashville; the gravity is still its own.
Murfreesboro, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Murfreesboro is the county seat of Rutherford County in Middle Tennessee, sitting about 35 miles southeast of Nashville along Interstate 24. The city's population reached 165,043 in the 2020 census, making it the state's sixth-largest city and one of the fastest-growing in the United States. Elevation runs near 597 feet on the limestone plateau of the Central Basin. Stones River traces the city's western edge, joining the Cumberland near Nashville. The geographic centre of Tennessee sits within the city limits.
The Battle of Stones River was fought from 31 December 1862 through 2 January 1863, the bloodiest battle by percentage casualties in the Western Theatre of the American Civil War, with roughly 24,000 casualties from a combined 81,000 men engaged. The Union held the field; the Confederate Army of Tennessee withdrew south. Stones River National Battlefield, established in 1927 and run by the National Park Service, preserves about 570 acres of the ground on the city's northwest side, with a cemetery for 6,100 Union dead.
The historic public square wraps the Rutherford County Courthouse, a Greek Revival building completed in 1859, one of six pre-Civil War courthouses still in use in Tennessee. Stones River National Battlefield sits a short drive northwest, free to enter, with a visitor centre off Old Nashville Highway. Middle Tennessee State University, with roughly 22,000 students, anchors the southern end of the city. The geographic centre of Tennessee is marked by a stone obelisk on a small lot off Old Lascassas Pike, set in 1834.