Col. Ed Murray's Home
Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
Col. Ed Murray's Home. Site of home of Col. Ed Murray who built the USS Merrimac, 1855. Ship was taken by Confederates at Norfolk, April 20, 1861. Rebuilt as "ironclad," the CSS Virginia. On March 8, 1862, it sank two US ships off Hampton Roads, Va. Next day engaged in famous five-hour battle with USS Monitor. Virginia was burned May 10, 1862, to prevent capture by Union forces.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
Here stood the home of Colonel Ed Murray, who oversaw the building of the USS Merrimac in 1855. Seized by Confederates at Norfolk in 1861 and rebuilt as the ironclad CSS Virginia, the ship helped usher in a new age of naval warfare. In March 1862 it sank two Union vessels at Hampton Roads and then fought the USS Monitor to a draw in the first-ever battle between ironclad warships.
Why it matters
A Paducah connection reaches into one of history's turning points—the clash of the Monitor and the Virginia—that made the world's wooden navies obsolete overnight.
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Related people
- · Ed Murray
Related events
- · Battle of Hampton Roads (1862)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Gunsmith Ferd Hummel
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Gunsmith Ferd Hummel arrived in Paducah in 1861 and set up a small frame shop that soon served the Federal soldiers occupying the town, who brought their firearms to him for repair. When Confederate raiders looted his shop in March 1864, he had already hidden his best arms at home. He carried on his trade for years, earning a patent for a breech-loading firearm in 1881.
McCracken County Courthouse
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