Fort Morgan Museum

The Fort Morgan Museum is located at the beginning of the main street downtown and has a variety of interesting and entertaining displays. The building also houses the city library and so research information is readily available. There are both permanent and temporary exhibits which showcase the culture and history of the Fort Morgan area. Originally, the city of Fort Morgan was an Army post built in 1864 by the Federal Government and was named for Colonel Christopher A. Morgan. Because the Fort was built to protect the mail service and people along the Overland Trail during hostilities with the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians, there is a rich history to be told. The Museum and Library help to keep that history alive through images, stories and dioramas for the public to enjoy.

Other aspects of the town include the notable residents from the past, including the famous Jazz musician Glenn Miller.  The Miller family came to live in Fort Morgan in 1918 and Glenn started attending the local high school. He was fascinated with the new music style called “dance band music” and so got a few classmates together to form a band. Within the next three years before graduation, Miller decided to become a professional musician – and his talent and style became legendary. Fort Morgan is very proud of their native son, and Glenn Miller memorabilia is everywhere. Another interesting piece of the past which is preserved in the Fort Morgan museum is a large soda fountain which allows you to step back to a more innocent era of malts and soda jerks. It’s wonderful to see all the original tools of the soda fountain trade, the logos and products of the time and the general atmosphere which was common to the 1920’s and beyond in Fort Morgan and around the country.

Because the town of Fort Morgan was located not far from the Platte River, and the valley had good agricultural soil, crops were planted and irrigated from the river. According to the City of Fort Morgan, “Irrigation first came to Morgan County in the 1880s with the Weldon Valley Ditch. The Fort Morgan Canal was the last of the early ditch building projects. It is also the one that had the greatest impact on Fort Morgan since it brought water to the flats, the area just south of the South Platte River where Fort Morgan sits. The image titled ‘Threshing Morgan County Wheat. Yield Fifty Bushels Per Acre. Irrigation Brings Results’ is one of many images used to promote Morgan County and showcase the diverse crops and livestock being raised in the area. ” An entire section of the museum shows the construction of the Canal, the migrant farm workers part in agriculture and the success of the irrigation projects. Sugar Beets came to Morgan County in the early 1900s. By 1906 there were two factories in the County, one in Brush and one in Fort Morgan. Over 100 years later, the Fort Morgan factory still produces sugar from locally grown beets.

Visit the Fort Morgan Museum

414 Main St. Fort Morgan, Colorado 80701
(970) 542-4010

Hours :

• Monday – Friday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Tuesday – Thursday evenings, 6 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. research rooms by appointment
• Saturday – 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Fees : Donations accepted.

Fort Morgan Museum Photo Gallery

Getting to Fort Morgan

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