Shot of McMurdo Base and the top of Observation Hill. Photo courtesy of www.polarstar.org.

McMurdo Station is located on the southern end of Ross Island, an island off the coast of Antarctica at 78° S latitude, 168° E longitude, at the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.

Ross Island was discovered in 1841 by James Clark Ross, who also discovered the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf. Ross named McMurdo Sound after Lt. Archibald McMurdo, an officer on the ship Terror.

On Jan. 21, 1902, Robert Falcon Scott landed on Ross Island during his National Antarctic Expedition in his ship, Discovery. In February and March of 1902, Scott and his men constructed the Discovery Hut on Hut Point near what is now McMurdo Station and spent the winter there. Scott's Hut was also used by Ernest H. Shackleton during his polar exploration. Scott's Hut is protected as a historical site under the Antarctic Treaty, and sits perfectly preserved next to the ice pier that the icebreakers use at the station.

In December 1955, Hut Point was selected as a U.S. site for Operation Deep Freeze I, to support the polar science activities on the International Geophysical year of 1957-1958. Ten-man and 23-two man tents formed a tent camp until prefabricated buildings could be unloaded and erected. The site was first called Naval Air Facility McMurdo. The first winter over at McMurdo was in 1956 and consisted of 93 men. The facility was renamed McMurdo Station in 1961.