Murchison is located 167 kilometres from Melbourne and is just to the west of the Goulburn Valley Highway between Shepparton and Nagambie.

The first Europeans to visit what would become the site where the drovers Joseph Hawdon and Charles Bonney who drove cattle between Mitchellstown and Adelaide.

He also set up a hotel and punt service over the Goulburn for gold miners travelling between Bendigo and Beechworth.

A bridge was built over the Goulburn to replace the punt service in 1871, with a newspaper, courthouse and mechanics' institute being established in 1870.

The Waranga Basin was developed in the early part of the twentieth century approximately 15 kilometres from the town.

[6] The rocks were analysed at the NASA Ames Research Center where they were discovered to contain the first convincing evidence of amino acids of extraterrestrial origin, supporting the Miller–Urey experiment.

On September 14 2024 at Mooroopna, the Grasshoppers' seniors and reserves teams won the KDFL premiership, defeating Shepparton East and Stanhope respectively.

[9] World Headbutting Champion Gianni Vazzoler resides in Murchison since winning his title in nearby Shepparton in 2013 against Captain Redbeard.