Morgan County, Indiana

Morgan County Education, Geography, and History

Morgan County is a county located in the state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 68,894. Morgan County was created on February 15, 1822. The county seat is Martinsville.  The county is named for General Daniel Morgan, hero of the American Revolutionary War.

Morgan County is located between Indianapolis, in Marion County, and Bloomington, located in Monroe County. It is included in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Morgan County Name

The county is named for American Revolutionary War General Daniel Morgan.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Morgan County History

Morgan County began its official existence February 15, 1822. It was named for Gen. Daniel Morgan, who defeated the British at the Battle of Cowpens in the Revolutionary War. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, mineral springs in Martinsville gave rise to several spas, and the nickname of the Martinsville High School athletic teams has subsequently been the Artesians. Settlers in Morgan County in the early nineteenth century came predominantly from southern states. The Mooresville area and surrounding communities received large numbers of southern Quakers, driven to migrate because of their opposition to slavery. Paul Hadley, a Mooresville resident, was the designer of the current Indiana flag, as well as a locally prominent water color artist in the early twentieth century. The county courthouse, built in the 1850s, is the oldest in central Indiana.

County government took several steps forward in the 2000s, creating a new Plan Commission, re-instituting a county economic development organization, and establishing the county's first Park and Recreation Board between 2000 and 2004. Morgan County also was the first county in the metropolitan Indianapolis region to establish a smoking ban ordinance for restaurants, taking that step in 2004. Other communities in the region soon followed Morgan County's lead.

A County Achievement Award from the Association of Indiana Counties in 2006 was the third award from the group given to Morgan County in a ten year span, adding to 1997 and 2003 awards.

In 2006 Morgan County was the first in the central Indiana region to offer a prescription drug discount program to its residents at no charge to individuals, helping residents save an average of 20% on prescriptions. Also during 2006, Morgan and Hendricks Counties became the first in Indiana to develop neighboring and co-related TIF (Tax Increment Financing) districts for economic development activity.

Morgan County has developed a new thoroughfare plan that is integrated with the Mooresville thoroughfare plan, and also recently completed a new capital improvement plan. Both activities are preludes to a new comprehensive plan being developed for the county.

Morgan County is divided into 14 Civil Townships as follows: Adams, Ashland, Baker, Brown, Clay, Green, Gregg, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Ray and Washington.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 409 square miles (1,060 km²), of which 406 square miles (1,053 km²) is land and 3 square miles (8 km²) (0.71%) is water.

 Morgan county is located close to the center of Indiana. The county also is home to large areas of land that were not glaciated during the last ice age. The river valley and contributing watersheds, along with the non-glaciated hills, results in a topography unlike the rest of the metropolitan Indianapolis area. Morgan County is bisected by the White River Valley; the community has taken an interest in recent years in protecting the river as an asset, seeking to develop parks and greenways along the White River and initiating an annual river clean up day in the spring.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• North: Hendricks County
• Northeast: Marion County
• East: Johnson County
• Southeast: Brown County
• South: Monroe County
• Southwest: Owen County
• Northwest: Putnam County

Education

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