Morshansk is a city (since 1779) in the north of the Tambov
region of Russia. The administrative center of the Morshansk
district, which is not included, being an administrative-territorial
unit of the city of regional significance, forming the municipal
formation of the same name, the city of Morshansk.
Located on
both banks of the Tsna River when crossing it by the railway, 90 km
north of Tambov. The eponymous railway station of the Kuibyshev
railway on the Ryazhsk - Penza line. Population - 37 955 people.
(2020).
The time of the emergence of the settlement on the
site of the city is not precisely established. The village of Morsha
existed in the 16th century. On September 16, 1779, by the personal
decree of Catherine II, Morsha - the center of the grain trade on
the Tsna - was transformed into the city of Morshansk, which became
a district town. The nobleman Kirill Parshin became the governor of
Morshansk, by decree of Catherine II.
Market ties expanded
and strengthened. Tsna served as the most important trade route. She
was navigable from Morshansk. From the Morshansk wharves, cargoes
were sent on barges along the Moksha, Oka, Volga rivers and further
along the river systems to Petersburg, Rybinsk, Nizhny Novgorod,
Moscow, and Murom.
During the year, up to 14 million poods of
various goods were exported from Morshansk: bread, flour, bacon,
leather, cattle, hemp, makhorka. At the same time, stone, salt, and
various manufactured products came to Morshansk to be transported by
horse-drawn transport to the southern districts of the province.
Over a hundred different vessels were built annually to service the
Tsna waterway near Morshansk. A whole army of hired workers was
employed in their construction and transportation of goods.
In 1875 there was a fire in Morshansk. As it is written in
historical essays: “Many people threw the most valuable property
into Tsnu and tried to escape with it in the river, others were
forced to abandon everything and flee across the river in the
forest. It was said that even the river was on fire - it was
different things floating on it: chests, clothes. Even in the water,
everything continued to burn, giving the impression that water was
burning. There was no way to liquidate a fire of such force. Strong
winds contributed to the spread of the fire. In nearby villages,
they saw the wind blowing over them burnt jackdaws, rags, and
papers. It was also seen how the burning rafters and brands were
carried across the river and in the field. "
In the 19th
century, the city's commercial importance fell due to the
construction of railways. The cloth and tobacco (makhorka) industry
began to develop there.
An interesting event in Russian
construction is associated with the history of the city: in
1811-1812. here, for the first time in Russia, a wooden church was
moved by 42 yards by a self-taught serf mechanic Dmitry Petrov.
On December 1, 1922, the great football and hockey player
Vsevolod Mikhailovich Bobrov was born in the city of Morshansk.
On March 7, 1941, Morshansk received the status of a city of
regional subordination.
During the Great Patriotic War,
Morshansk was a rear city, one of the main centers of tobacco and
tobacco production, the products of which were supplied to the Red
Army.
In 1990, the city of Morshansk received the status of a
historical city.