The street, the central portion of which has become a pedestrian mall, was named after Sir George Murray, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from 1828 to 1830.

The number of historic arcades linking with the Hay Street mall is significant compared to other parts of the CBD.

The strip has many popular shops lining the street including flagship outlets for department stores such as Myer, David Jones, Woolworths and Target.

Recent development along Murray Street has seen the addition of a number of both national and international retailers including – Nespresso, Swarovski, G-Star Raw, Quiksilver, General Pants Co., Aquilla, Industrie, Hurley, Pandora, Zara and many more.

Notable buildings/features within the heritage precinct include; The Murray Street mall is directly connected to Perth railway station by an entry at the west end of the mall, and via Forrest Place to the original Perth railway station and the Museum of Western Australia.