Morrison, Colorado Town of Morrison, Colorado Town of Morrison with Red Rocks amphitheater in background Town of Morrison with Red Rocks amphitheater in background Location in Jefferson County and the state of Colorado Location in Jefferson County and the state of Colorado Website Town of Morrison The historic Town of Morrison is a Home Rule Municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States.
This small foothills settlement is titled after George Morrison (April 16, 1822 June 11, 1895), a builder and businessman who left a mark not only on the town that now bears his name, but on the history of the entire area.
He became a United States citizen on May 22, 1862. George Morrison later moved south to Bear Creek, where he established the Morrison Stone, Lime, and Town Co., and in 1874 platted the town that became known as Morrison, or briefly as Mt.
As a quarryman, Morrison advanced the building contemporary and other industrialized contemporary (lime, gypsum) of the Morrison/Mt.
Two of the three contemporary buildings he assembled in Morrison, as well as the Mt.
The Morrison Schoolhouse he assembled served the town's educational needs from its assembly in 1875 until 1955, and stands today as a private residence.
These landmarks represent a distinct ive style of assembly and are enduring monuments to George Morrison's contributions to Jefferson County's history.
Mount Morrison behind Red Rocks Park is also titled after George Morrison.
In the late 1800s, an meaningful county-wide geologic layer of Late Jurassic age, the Morrison Formation, was titled after the small town of Morrison, and is today famous as the first discernment site of three 150-million-year-old dinosaurs, Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, and the Colorado state fossil, Stegosaurus.
The Morrison Formation covers parts of thirteen states and has yielded much of our understanding of the extinct animals that lived in the west so long ago.
In 1877, the holotypic remains of the dinosaurs Stegosaurus armatus and Apatosaurus ajax were identified near Morrison by Arthur Lakes.
These finds from the Morrison region figured in the 19th century "Bone Wars" between rival paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh.
In 1896, the Late Jurassic section of sedimentary modern excavated by Lakes was formally titled the Morrison Formation for the town near the prominent outcrops where it was described (Eldridge, 1896).
Alameda Parkway, 2 mi north of town of Morrison, in SE/4 sec.
The Morrison Natural History Museum in Morrison homes and displays some fossils found by Lakes and Museum staff has begun reworking Lakes' initial digs at Quarry 10.
In 2006, the MNHM reported rare adult Stegosaurus tracks from the Morrison area.
These fossils are on display at the Morrison Natural History Museum. Cretaceous age dinosaur tracks and one of Lakes' historic dig sites can still be viewed on what is now known as Dinosaur Ridge east of Morrison.
Also positioned near Morrison is a momentous archaeological site; known as the Lo - Dais - Ka Site, it was inhabited for approximately 7,500 years. The Town of Morrison was officially incorporated following a unanimous election on January 9, 1906.
The first Mayor was Thomas Cowan Morrison, son of the town's founder.
Most of those names are well recognized as pioneers in Morrison's history.
Morrison's first ordinances were passed in February and March 1906, as the initial Board began the process of managing the Town's affairs.
Pete Morrison, grandson of the town's founder and son of the first mayor, accomplished fame amid the early 1900s as a cowboy star in silent film, and ultimately had his own studio, Lariat Productions, in Hollywood. In 1976, the Morrison Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Morrison is positioned at 39 39 6 N 105 11 25 W (39.651764, -105.190344). According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town has a total region of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km2), all of it land.
Morrison is southwest of Denver and is positioned on State Highway 470 and Morrison Road.
The Morrison postal zip code (80465) extends west up Turkey Creek Canyon and south of the town. It thus applies to an region covering approximately 5,000 addresses.
Because the Morrison Post Office serves this large region beyond the Town boundaries proper, many affairs and citizens connected with "Morrison" are actually in or of unincorporated portions of Jefferson County.
Names listed here may include citizens outside the Town of Morrison, in unincorporated areas of Jefferson County veiled by the Morrison zip code.
Arthur Lakes discovers first Stegosaurus and Apatosaurus fossils near Morrison in 1877 Morrison Fossil Area National Natural Landmark Morrison Natural History Museum State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives.
Morrison Natural History Museum website, accessed 2011.12.28.
Jefferson County, Colorado Historical Society Office of Archaeology & Historic Preservation, n.d.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Morrison, Colorado.
Town of Morrison website CDOT map of the Town of Morrison Historic Morrison website Municipalities and communities of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States
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Towns in Jefferson County, Colorado - Towns in Colorado - Denver urbane area
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