“A Comfortable Place to Be.” That’s what the sign outside of Murph’s Bar on 202 E. Girard Ave. reads to everyone passing down Fishtown’s bustling business corridor. A cozy, Irish pub where everybody knows your name, Murph’s will be celebrating its tenth year under owner Greg Walton on Wednesday, March 19.

Walton initially discovered the property toward the end of 2003. The bar wasn’t necessarily a sight for sore eyes but Walton saw enough potential to take a chance on it.

“It was a total dive bar,” Walton said. “The ceiling was caving in, it was rough around the edges. There were about three people in here and no liquor behind the bar. But I fell in love with it. Over the years we’ve added different elements to it and made it what it is today.”

These improvements include exposing the structure’s bricks, adding new flooring and, most notably, the construction of a gorgeous penny bar made with 24,000 real pennies. Many of these improvements were done thanks to the help of Pat McGowan, a local carpenter and artist who has been coming into Murph’s for about eight years now. In addition to the bar, McGowan crafted the beautiful hunting themed mural on Murph’s ceiling and new tables in the building’s rear that were Frankensteined together from Ascension Church’s old pews.

“Basically, we redid everything,” Walton said. “It looks old, but it’s not—most of this was never here at first. And Pat’s great, he’s the man behind the man. He can do anything—he can see something and just make it.”

Other than the aesthetic changes that Murph’s has gone through over the past decade, there is one other dramatic transformation that Walton brought up.

“Obviously the neighborhood has changed a lot. And that’s good, I think it’s worked out,” Walton said. “But this place has always been a cool, hip neighborhood— you don’t need a place like this or Johnny Brenda’s or Kraftwork to make [this neighborhood] cool.”

Even so, Murph’s has become a melting pot with patrons of all backgrounds, ages and lives. Megan Hayes, a bartender who has been working at Murph’s for most of the past ten years, loves talking to the locals she’s known for ages as well as the new friends she’s made with the younger folks moving into the neighborhood.

“It’s a good mix of people,” said Hayes, who was born and raised in Fishtown. “During the day we have an awesome happy hour with a lot of the locals and regulars— literally everybody knows your name. On the weekend, it’s a little bit of a younger crowd— a different mix where you can see some new faces. It’s a lot of fun.”

Pat Crane works next door at Black Vulture Gallery and considers himself one of Murph’s regulars. He likens the bar to “Cheers” and described it as his second home.

“It reminds of the bar I grew up in, I could sleep in here like a crib,” Crane said. “I’m here during the day, it’s almost like a family vibe. We look out for each other at Murph’s.”

“You get union guys, contractors, hipsters, yuppsters—whatever you want to call them,” Walton added. “We get neighborhood people. And that’s the best part about this place— everybody comes in and gets along. Like the sign out front says, it’s a comfortable place to be. As corny as it sounds, it’s true.”

To celebrate the past ten years of business in the community, Murph’s will be throwing an Anniversary Party on Wednesday, March 19—ten years to the date that Walton took over the business. You can expect to see the familiar faces of people who drank there, performed there and worked there. Even DJ Ricky Lee, who was the first ever DJ to work at Murph’s, will be there providing the entertainment for the night.

“We’ve met a lot of people and made a lot of friends along the way,” Walton said. “And that’s what life is all about.”