Editing Morgan County, Utah

{{Short description|County in Utah, United States}}
{{For|counties with a similar name|Morgan County (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|text=[[Morgan, Utah]], a city in the county, as well as the county's seat}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox U.S. county
 | county               = Morgan County
 | state                = Utah
 | ex image             = Devils Slide Utah.jpg
 | ex image size        = 220px
 | ex image cap         = [[Devil's Slide (Utah)|Devil's Slide]], a limestone rock formation in [[Weber Canyon]], November 2013.
 | seal                 = 
 | founded year         = 1862
 | founded date         = January 17
 | seat wl              = Morgan
 | largest city wl      = Morgan
 | area_total_sq_mi     = 611
 | area_land_sq_mi      = 609
 | area_water_sq_mi     = 1.7
 | area percentage      = 0.3
 | coordinates          = {{coord|41.08|-111.58|display=inline, title|type:adm2nd_region:US-UT_source:UScensus1990}}
 | population_as_of     = 2020
 | population_total     = 12295
 | pop_est_as_of        = 
 | population_est       = 
 | population_density_sq_mi = auto
 | time zone            = Mountain
 | web                  = www.morgan-county.net
 | named for            = [[Jedediah Morgan Grant]]
 | district             = 1st
}}

'''Morgan County''' is a [[County (United States)|county]] in northern [[Utah]], [[United States]]. As of the [[2020 United States census]], the population was 12,295.<ref>{{cite web|title=Morgan County, Utah|url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Morgan_County,_Utah?g=050XX00US49029|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=June 30, 2023}}</ref> Its [[county seat]] and largest city is [[Morgan, Utah|Morgan]].<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx|access-date=June 7, 2011|title=Find a County|publisher=National Association of Counties}}</ref>
Morgan County is part of the [[Ogden, Utah|Ogden]]-[[Clearfield, Utah|Clearfield]], UT [[Ogden-Clearfield metropolitan area|Metropolitan Statistical Area]] as well as the [[Salt Lake City, Utah|Salt Lake City]]-[[Provo, Utah|Provo]]-[[Orem, Utah|Orem]], UT [[Salt Lake City metropolitan area#Combined Statistical Area|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 County, Utah|Davis]], [[Salt Lake County, Utah|Great Salt Lake]], [[Summit County, Utah|Summit]], and [[Weber County, Utah|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 [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|LDS Church]] from 1918 until 1945.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/UT_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm |title=&#91;&#91;Newberry Library&#93;&#93;. Individual County Chronologies/Morgan County UT (accessed March 27, 2019) |access-date=March 28, 2019 |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306153326/http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/UT_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==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 State Park|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 {{convert|9,706|ft|m|abbr=on}} ASL.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.peakbagger.com/list.aspx?lid=13209 |title=Utah County High Points/Morgan Co. Peakbagger (accessed 27 March 2019) |access-date=March 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090116/https://www.peakbagger.com/list.aspx?lid=13209 |archive-date=March 27, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The county has an area of {{convert|611|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|609|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|1.7|sqmi}} is water.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_49.txt|publisher=US Census Bureau|access-date=June 25, 2015|date=August 22, 2012|title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files}}</ref> It is Utah's third-smallest county by land area and smallest by total area.

===Major highways===
* [[File:I-84.svg|20px]] [[Interstate 84 in Utah|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===
{{div col}}
* [[Weber County, Utah|Weber County]] - north
* [[Summit County, Utah|Summit County]] - east
* [[Salt Lake County, Utah|Salt Lake County]] - southwest
* [[Davis County, Utah|Davis County]] - west
* [[Rich County, Utah|Rich County]] - northeast
{{div col end}}

===Protected areas===
{{div col}}
* [[Cache National Forest]] (part)
* [[East Canyon State Park]]
* Lost Creek State Park
* Round Valley Wildlife Management Area
* [[Wasatch National Forest]] (part)
{{div col end}}

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1870= 1972
|1880= 1783
|1890= 1780
|1900= 2045
|1910= 2467
|1920= 2542
|1930= 2536
|1940= 2611
|1950= 2519
|1960= 2837
|1970= 3983
|1980= 4917
|1990= 5528
|2000= 7129
|2010= 9469
|2020= 12295
|estref= 
|align-fn=center
|footnote=US Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=US Decennial Census|publisher=US Census Bureau|access-date=June 25, 2015}}</ref><br>1790–1960<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu|title=Historical Census Browser|publisher=University of Virginia Library|access-date=June 25, 2015}}</ref> 1900–1990<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/ut190090.txt|title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|publisher=US Census Bureau|editor-last=Forstall|editor-first=Richard L.|date=June 25, 1995|access-date=March 27, 2015}}</ref><br>1990–2000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf|title=Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000|publisher=US Census Bureau|date=April 2, 2001|access-date=June 25, 2015}}</ref> 2010<ref name="QF">{{cite web|title=State & County QuickFacts|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/49/49029.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=December 29, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606220429/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/49/49029.html|archive-date=June 6, 2011}}</ref> 2020<ref>[https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/2020-population-and-housing-state-data.html 2020 Population and Housing State Data | Utah]</ref>
}}
===2020 census===
According to the [[2020 United States census]]<ref name="2020CensusDHC">{{Cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2023/dec/2020-census-dhc.html|title=2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics File (DHC)|author=United States Census Bureau|author-link=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=November 3, 2024}}</ref> and [[American Community Survey|2020 American Community Survey]],<ref name="2020ACS">{{Cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/data/developers/data-sets/acs-5year.2020.html|title=American Community Survey 5-Year Data (2009-2022)|author=United States Census Bureau|author-link=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=November 3, 2024}}</ref> there were 12,295 people in Morgan County with a [[population density]] of 20.2 people per square mile (7.8/km<sup>2</sup>). Among non-[[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]] people, the racial makeup was 11,562 (94.0%) [[White Americans|White]], 12 (0.1%) [[African Americans|African American]], 31 (0.3%) [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]], 57 (0.5%) [[Asian Americans|Asian]], 0 (0.0%) [[Pacific Islander Americans|Pacific Islander]], 9 (0.1%) from [[Race and ethnicity in the United States census|other races]], and 286 (2.3%) from [[Multiracial Americans|two or more races]]. 338 (2.7%) people were Hispanic or Latino.

There were 6,289 (51.15%) males and 6,006 (48.85%) females, and the population distribution by age was 4,299 (35.0%) under the age of 18, 6,441 (52.4%) from 18 to 64, and 1,555 (12.6%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 33.6 years.

There were 3,574 households in Morgan County with an average size of 3.44 of which 3,084 (86.3%) were families and 490 (13.7%) were non-families. Among all families, 2,783 (77.9%) were [[Marriage|married couples]], 91 (2.5%) were male householders with no spouse, and 210 (5.9%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 428 (12.0%) were a single person living alone and 62 (1.7%) were two or more people living together. 1,670 (46.7%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 3,176 (88.9%) of households were [[Owner-occupancy|owner-occupied]] while 398 (11.1%) were [[Renting|renter-occupied]].

The median income for a Morgan County household was $100,408 and the median family income was $101,572, with a [[per-capita income]] of $34,280. The median income for males that were [[Full-time job|full-time employees]] was $87,961 and for females $46,484. 1.7% of the population and 1.0% of families were below the [[Poverty threshold|poverty line]].

In terms of education attainment, out of the 6,695 people in Morgan County 25 years or older, 145 (2.2%) had [[High school dropouts in the United States|not completed high school]], 1,350 (20.2%) had a [[high school diploma]] or equivalency, 2,630 (39.3%) had some college or [[associate degree]], 1,548 (23.1%) had a [[bachelor's degree]], and 1,022 (15.3%) had a [[Postgraduate education|graduate]] or [[professional degree]].

==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 2024).

{| class="wikitable"
|+State elected offices
! colspan="2" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:bottom;" |Position
!District
! style="text-align:center;" |Name
! valign="bottom" |Affiliation
! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center;" |First elected
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" |&nbsp;
|[[Utah Senate|Senate]]
|18
| style="text-align:center;" |[[F. Ann Millner]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| style="text-align:center;" |2014<ref>{{Cite web|title=Senator Millner Utah Senate|url=https://senate.utah.gov/sen/MILLNA/|access-date=November 16, 2021|website=senate.utah.gov}}</ref>
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" |&nbsp;
|[[Utah Senate|Senate]]
|19
| style="text-align:center;" |[[John D. Johnson (politician)|John D. Johnson]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| style="text-align:center;" |2020<ref>{{Cite web|title=Senator Johnson Utah Senate|url=https://senate.utah.gov/sen/JOHNSJD/|access-date=November 16, 2021|website=senate.utah.gov}}</ref>
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" |&nbsp;
|[[Utah House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]
|53
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Kera Birkeland]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| style="text-align:center;" |2020<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rep. Birekeland, Kera|url=https://house.utah.gov/rep/BIRKEK/|access-date=November 17, 2021|website=Utah House of Representatives|language=en-US}}</ref>
|-
| style="background-color:lightgrey" |&nbsp;
|Board of Education
|1
| style="text-align:center;" |Jennie Earl
| style="text-align:center;" |Nonpartisan
| style="text-align:center;" |2018<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jennie Earl|url=https://www.schools.utah.gov/board/members/utah/jennieearl|access-date=November 16, 2021|website=www.schools.utah.gov}}</ref>
|-
|}

{{PresHead|place=Morgan County, Utah|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Atlas of US Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 31, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|5,300|1,256|394|Utah}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|5,181|1,086|339|Utah}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|3,188|577|1,457|Utah}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|4,114|403|80|Utah}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|3,311|689|188|Utah}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|3,301|472|68|Utah}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|2,464|553|154|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|1,659|859|390|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|1,339|520|1,081|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|1,889|647|31|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|1,934|481|15|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|1,985|373|77|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|1,356|701|97|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|1,456|363|217|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|1,020|551|132|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|572|835|0|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|775|622|1|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|905|438|0|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|862|467|0|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|587|670|8|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|535|671|0|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|575|699|0|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|483|739|6|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|568|602|5|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|513|454|1|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|482|360|49|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|544|397|4|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|464|484|8|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1912|Republican|318|233|318|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|494|306|49|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|492|315|52|Utah}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|391|363|2|Utah}}
{{PresFoot|1896|Democratic|138|582|0|Utah}}

==Communities==
===Cities===
* [[Morgan, Utah|Morgan]] (county seat)

===Census-designated places===
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Enterprise, Morgan County, Utah|Enterprise]]
* [[Mountain Green, Utah|Mountain Green]]
{{div col end}}

===Unincorporated places===
{{div col}}
* [[Croydon, Utah|Croydon]]
* [[Littleton, Utah|Littleton]]<ref>{{cite gnis|1427128|Croyden}}</ref>
* [[Milton, Utah|Milton]]<ref>{{cite gnis|1455096|Milton}}</ref>
* [[Peterson, Utah|Peterson]]
* [[Porterville, Utah|Porterville]]
* [[Richville, Utah|Richville]]<ref>{{cite gnis|1431780|Richville}}</ref>
* [[Stoddard, Utah|Stoddard]]<ref>{{cite gnis|1432991|Sotddard}}</ref>
* [[Taggarts, Utah|Taggarts]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/267|title = Taggart's Camp}}</ref>
* [[Whites Crossing, Utah|Whites Crossing]]
{{div col end}}

===Ghost towns===
* [[Devils Slide, Utah|Devils Slide]]

==See also==
{{stack|{{portal|Utah}}}}
* [[List of counties in Utah]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Morgan County, Utah]]

==References==
{{reflist|22em}}

==Further reading==
* {{Citation | last = Murphy | first = Miriam B. | title = Utah History Encyclopedia | publisher = University of Utah Press | year = 1994 | chapter = Morgan County | chapter-url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/m/MORGAN_COUNTY.shtml | url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250219191729/https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/m/MORGAN_COUNTY.shtml | archive-date = February 19, 2025 | isbn =9780874804256 | access-date = May 7, 2025}}
* {{cite book|title=A History of Morgan County|last=Smith|first=Linda H.|year=1999|publisher=Utah State Historical Society|location=Salt Lake City UT|isbn=978-0-913738-36-8}}

==External links==
{{stack|{{commons category|Morgan County, Utah}}}}
* {{official website|https://www.morgancountyutah.gov/}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050204161706/http://www.uen.org/counties/morgan.html UEN - Morgan County]
* [http://MorganNews.com The Morgan County News - The Newspaper of Morgan County]

{{Geographic Location
| Centre    = Morgan County, Utah
| North     = [[Weber County, Utah|Weber County]]
| Northeast = [[Rich County, Utah|Rich County]]
| East      = [[Summit County, Utah|Summit County]]
| Southeast = Summit County
| South     = [[Salt Lake County, Utah|Salt Lake County]]
| Southwest = Salt Lake County
| West      = [[Davis County, Utah|Davis County]]
| Northwest = Weber County
}}

{{Morgan County, Utah}}
{{Utah}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Morgan County, Utah| ]]
[[Category:1862 establishments in Utah Territory]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1862]]
[[Category:Ogden–Clearfield metropolitan area]]