Exceptional, Affordable Living

Proud of Our Past

Morgan County is deeply rooted in a strong spirit of pioneerism. Resilience, independence, self-reliance, hard work… The traits that enabled a diverse group of settlers to push westward for a brighter future are still the backbone of our communities. 

Fort Morgan, which served as the seat of Northeastern Colorado’s Morgan County, was originally established as an army camp and military fort in 1864 to aid and protect miners and pioneers traveling along the Overland Trail. The town was named in honor of Colonel Christopher A. Morgan, who achieved distinction with the Union Army during the Civil War and was known as having “a high sense of honor, unswerving morals, honor, gallantry, and the brightest and purest character.”

When the Union Pacific and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroads steamed into Fort Morgan in 1882, the wide open spaces and natural charm began attracting settlers from as far away as the East Coast to Canada. By the early 1900s, Fort Morgan boasted nine churches, irrigation canals, a Masonic Lodge, public schools, a city park, a reservoir known as Jackson Lake, an opera house, a courthouse, and a Carnegie Library. This is when the seeds of agriculture were planted, too; multiple family farms began operating, and the Great Western Sugar Company started processing sugar beets, one of many crops still harvested today.