A former gold mining settlement, the main street today is lined with over two dozen wine tasting rooms and surrounded by local vineyards.

Nearby attractions include Calaveras Big Trees State Park, Bear Valley Ski Resort and historic Mercer Caverns.

The world's largest crystalline gold leaf is displayed just south of town at Ironstone Vineyards.

In fact, John was so successful that he left town at the end of 1849 and never returned, having amassed a personal fortune of nearly $2 million.

After visiting, John Muir wrote in his book, The Mountains of California (1894):[5] "MURPHY'S CAMP is a curious old mining-town in Calaveras County, at an elevation of 2,400 feet (730 m) above the sea, situated like a nest in the center of a rough, gravelly region, rich in gold.

Granites, slates, lavas, limestone, iron ores, quartz veins, auriferous gravels, remnants of dead fire-rivers and dead water-rivers are developed here side by side within a radius of a few miles, and placed invitingly open before the student like a book, while the people and the region beyond the camp furnish mines of study of never-failing interest and variety.

However, Murphys continued to thrive as a merchant center, supplying many of the silver mines in Nevada with provisions via Ebbetts Pass.

[4] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 10.3 square miles (27 km2), 99.98% of it land.

There were 1,256 housing units at an average density of 121.7 per square mile (47.0/km2),of which 1,053 were occupied, 726 (68.9%) by the owners and 327 (31.1%) by renters.

The Calaveras County Fair held in neighboring Angels Camp takes place in May and features the Jumping Frog Jubilee made famous in the 1865 short story by Mark Twain, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".

Past seasons have featured acts such as Coldplay, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, The Doobie Brothers, Earth, Wind & Fire, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bryan Adams, B.

[15] Federally, Murphys is in California's 5th congressional district, represented by Republican Tom McClintock.