In December 1832 the Georgia General Assembly designated the extreme northwestern corner of the state as Murray County.

The area was in the heart of the Cherokee Nation at the time the boundary lines were drawn through the territory.

Not until after the Cherokees were removed in 1838–39 did white settlers enter the county in large numbers.

Spring Place had been established in 1801 as a Moravian mission to the Cherokee and had been a post office since 1810 – the second oldest in North Georgia.

At one point in its previously integrated history it was referred to as the Lone Cherry School.

[5] At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Murray County had no industry and very little wealth.

When Georgia seceded from the Union, hundreds of men and boys[citation needed] from Murray enlisted in the Confederate Army.

[citation needed] The First Tennessee Cavalry CS also skirmished about 5 miles north of Spring Place on April 19, 1864.

[citation needed] Another skirmish took place near Westfield late during the night of August 22, 1864.

Captain Woody of the Murray County Home Guard was reported wounded.

[citation needed] On February 27, 1865, and April 20, 1865, there was a skirmish at Spring Place between Confederates and the 145th Indiana Infantry US.

Some Murray Countians began an effort to move the county seat to the more central and accessible railroad town of Chatsworth.

A county-wide referendum was held on the matter in 1912, which resulted in Chatsworth being named as the seat of local government, where it remains to present day.

Shortly after World War II the textile industry, prevalent in neighboring Whitfield County, began to move into Murray.

[7] As of the 2020 United States census, there were 39,973 people, 14,385 households, and 10,557 families residing in the county.

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 39,628 people, 14,080 households, and 10,677 families living in the county.

Constructed in 1805 for James Vann, a Cherokee chief, the two-story red brick home was built alongside the Federal Road, a major early path in northwest Georgia.

Another major asset is the Chattahoochee National Forest, which occupies a large portion of northeastern Murray County.

Within the forest is the Cohutta Wilderness Area, a roadless, mountainous landscape featuring several of Georgia's premier backpacking trails.

[44][45] Murray County, Georgia has been featured in an Independent Lens series documenting bullying.