Morgan County, Utah

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Morgan County, Utah
Devil's Slide, a limestone rock formation in Weber Canyon, November 2013.
Location in the state of Utah
Utah's location in the U.S.
Founded	January 17, 1862
Named for	Jedediah Morgan Grant
Seat	Morgan
Largest city	Morgan
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	611 sq mi (1,582 km²) 609 sq mi (1,577 km²) 1.7 sq mi (4 km²), 0.3
Population  - (2020)  - Density	12,295
Congressional district	1st
Time zone	Mountain: UTC-7/-6
Website	www.morgan-county.net

Morgan County is a county in northern Utah, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,295. Its county seat and largest city is Morgan. Morgan County is part of the Ogden-Clearfield, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, UT Combined Statistical Area.

History

An early route of the Hastings Cutoff ran through the Morgan Valley and down through a narrow gorge in Weber Canyon. The Donner Party avoided going through the Morgan Valley in order to speed up their journey. However, their alternate route proved more time-consuming.

In 1855, Charles Sreeve Peterson and his family became the first white settlers to take up permanent residence in the Morgan Valley after cutting a road through Weber Canyon. After others began settling in the rather limited planar areas of the mountainous territory, the Utah Territory legislature acted on January 17, 1862, to form a separate county from sections partitioned off Davis, Great Salt Lake, Summit, and Weber counties. The small settlement at Morgan was named the county seat. The town (and thus the new county) was named for the father (Jedediah Morgan Grant) of Heber J. Grant, who would serve as president of LDS Church from 1918 until 1945.

Geography

The central core of Morgan County, the narrow East Canyon valley (now called Morgan Valley), is ringed by mountains. In its southern portion, Main Canyon Creek flows southward from Summit County to join East Canyon Creek, which flows northward from a different portion of Summit County. At their intersection, a dam has been installed to create East Canyon Reservoir and State Park. The combined discharge (now called East Canyon Creek) from the dam flows northwestward to Morgan, where it combines with Deep Creek to discharge into the Weber River, which also flows into the county from Summit and follows Lost Canyon to the Morgan Valley. The now-augmented Weber flows northwestward to Mountain Green, then turns west to exit the county through Weber Canyon. The terrain generally slopes to the north and west, with its highest point, Thurston Peak, at 9,706' (2958m) ASL. The county has an area of 611 square miles (1,580 km²), of which 609 square miles (1,580 km²) is land and 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²) is water. It is Utah's third-smallest county by land area and smallest by total area.

Major highways

• Interstate 84
• Utah State Highway U-65
• Utah State Highway U-66
• Utah State Highway U-158
• Utah State Highway U-167

Some county roads accessing the canyons are closed during winters.

Adjacent counties

• Weber County - north
• Summit County - east
• Salt Lake County - southwest
• Davis County - west
• Rich County - northeast

Protected areas

• Cache National Forest (part)
• East Canyon State Park
• Lost Creek State Park
• Round Valley Wildlife Management Area
• Wasatch National Forest (part)

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1870	1,972		—
1880	1,783		−9.6%
1890	1,780		−0.2%
1900	2,045		14.9%
1910	2,467		20.6%
1920	2,542		3.0%
1930	2,536		−0.2%
1940	2,611		3.0%
1950	2,519		−3.5%
1960	2,837		12.6%
1970	3,983		40.4%
1980	4,917		23.4%
1990	5,528		12.4%
2000	7,129		29.0%
2010	9,469		32.8%
US Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 7,129 people, 2,046 households, and 1,782 families in the county. The population density was 11.7/sqmi (4.52/km²). There were 2,158 housing units at an average density of 3.54/sqmi (1.37/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.11% White, 0.04% Black or African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.45% from other races, and 1.07% from two or more races. 1.44% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,046 households, out of which 49.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 79.60% were married couples living together, 5.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.90% were non-families. 11.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.48 and the average family size was 3.81.

The county population contained 37.10% under the age of 18, 9.70% from 18 to 24, 24.30% from 25 to 44, 20.20% from 45 to 64, and 8.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $50,273, and the median income for a family was $53,365. Males had a median income of $42,350 versus $23,036 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,684. About 3.70% of families and 5.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.70% of those under age 18 and 6.90% of those age 65 or over.

Politics and Government

Morgan County traditionally votes Republican. In only one national election since 1948 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2020).

State Elected Offices

Position		District	Name	Affiliation	First Elected
style="background-color:#FF3333;" width=10px | " |	Senate	18	F. Ann Millner	Republican	2014
style="background-color:#FF3333;" width=10px | " |	Senate	19	John D. Johnson	Republican	2020
style="background-color:#FF3333;" width=10px | " |	House of Representatives	53	Kera Birkeland	Republican	2020
	Board of Education	1	Jennie Earl	Nonpartisan	2018

United States presidential election results for Morgan County, Utah

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	5,181	78.43%	1,086	16.44%	339	5.13%
2016	3,188	61.05%	577	11.05%	1,457	27.90%
2012	4,114	89.49%	403	8.77%	80	1.74%
2008	3,311	79.06%	689	16.45%	188	4.49%
2004	3,301	85.94%	472	12.29%	68	1.77%
2000	2,464	77.70%	553	17.44%	154	4.86%
1996	1,659	57.05%	859	29.54%	390	13.41%
1992	1,339	45.54%	520	17.69%	1,081	36.77%
1988	1,889	73.59%	647	25.20%	31	1.21%
1984	1,934	79.59%	481	19.79%	15	0.62%
1980	1,985	81.52%	373	15.32%	77	3.16%
1976	1,356	62.95%	701	32.54%	97	4.50%
1972	1,456	71.51%	363	17.83%	217	10.66%
1968	1,020	59.89%	551	32.35%	132	7.75%
1964	572	40.65%	835	59.35%	0	0.00%
1960	775	55.44%	622	44.49%	1	0.07%
1956	905	67.39%	438	32.61%	0	0.00%
1952	862	64.86%	467	35.14%	0	0.00%
1948	587	46.40%	670	52.96%	8	0.63%
1944	535	44.36%	671	55.64%	0	0.00%
1940	575	45.13%	699	54.87%	0	0.00%
1936	483	39.33%	739	60.18%	6	0.49%
1932	568	48.34%	602	51.23%	5	0.43%
1928	513	53.00%	454	46.90%	1	0.10%
1924	482	54.10%	360	40.40%	49	5.50%
1920	544	57.57%	397	42.01%	4	0.42%
1916	464	48.54%	484	50.63%	8	0.84%
1912	318	36.59%	233	26.81%	318	36.59%
1908	494	58.19%	306	36.04%	49	5.77%
1904	492	57.28%	315	36.67%	52	6.05%
1900	391	51.72%	363	48.02%	2	0.26%
1896	138	19.17%	582	80.83%	0	0.00%

Communities

Cities

• Morgan (county seat)

Census-designated places

• Enterprise
• Mountain Green

Unincorporated places

• Croydon
• Littleton
• Milton
• Peterson
• Porterville
• Richville
• Stoddard
• Taggarts
• Whites Crossing

Ghost towns

• Devils Slide

See also

• List of counties in Utah
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Morgan County, Utah

Further reading

• Smith, Linda H. (1999). A History of Morgan County. Salt Lake City UT: Utah State Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-913738-36-8. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Morgan County, Utah

• Official website
• UEN - Morgan County
• The Morgan County News - The Newspaper of Morgan County