Murfreesboro sits in Middle Tennessee, southeast of Nashville, a fast-growing city of universities, battlefields, and a historic town square. Stones River National Battlefield preserves the site of a major Civil War battle, with a national cemetery and trails through the fields. Middle Tennessee State University gives the city a large campus and a lively college presence. The downtown square, built around the Rutherford County Courthouse, offers shops, restaurants, and a Saturday farmers market, and Cannonsburgh Village recreates a pioneer settlement with cabins, a schoolhouse, and a chapel.