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Morgan County Historical Society

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Morgan County Historical Society

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Established in 1979, our goal is to collect, preserve, and educate people about Morgan County's History

10/23/2026

When Charles Arthur Welch returned from a mission in England in 1885, he and his wife, Mary, bought land near 200 North in Morgan City. He built this home for Mary and their growing family. While teaching in Morgan City, Charles met Emma Rosetta Butt. In 1897, Charles defied the church and the federal government by plurally marrying her. In 1900, the Welches, along with George Taggart and a few other families from Morgan, were called to settle the Big Horn Basin in Wyoming. Charles sold the home and land to James Rawle.

10/22/2026

How did the Victorian-style house become the default Haunted House? The answer is quite fascinating. Victorian architecture is named after Queen Victoria of England. She reigned from 1837 to 1901. This style of architecture is characterized by its steep roof lines, bright colors, and rounded turrets and towers. By the 1900s, this style was criticized by many as "wooden monstrosities," and examples of "Ostentatious and arrogant ugliness." World War 1 only increased this distaste for European style as veterans and survivors sought to forget any traces of a corrupt past. Artists, photographers, and painters began to use these homes as metaphors for fear and terror. Films like "Psycho" and books like "The Haunting of Hill House" solidified the idea that Victorian houses were spooky places to be avoided. Many of these houses are now treasured for their unique style and beauty today.

10/21/2026

The Porterville church was built between 1907 and 1908. Bub and Grace Kilbourn later owned it. In 1969, Tom and Mary Bergman moved their family and turned it into a lovely home. In 1973, Mary, Tom, and their six children spent one year completely off the grid and survived on what they could find and make with their own hands. Mary wrote and published the experience as Survival Family: How One Family Prepared for and Lived One Year of Experimental Disaster. The Bergmans left, and the church fell into disrepair. Thomas moved back to Morgan in 1993. Sadly, a lit candle burned the home down in 2000.

Bergman, Thomas OH10_025; Weber State University, Stewart Library, University Archives.
"Look out World Baby Bergman Born," Morgan County News, March 17, 1995, https://www.newspapers.com/image/545125392.
Grace B. Kilbourn, HIstory of the Old Porterville Church 1864-1948, p. 54.

10/20/2026

Dr. Benjamin R. McKinnon was born in Randolph, Utah, in 1897. He earned his D.D.S. from the University of Utah and returned to Randolph to practice dentistry. After his mother passed in 1927, he moved to Morgan and reopened his dental practice. Between 1940 and 1942, Dr. McKinnon and his wife, Margaret, ordered and built this lovely home straight from the Sears catalog. This Sears kit home still stands in its original form at 150 S. Circle Drive.

10/19/2026

When homeowners could not afford to build a complete home, they often constructed a basement with a roof and lived there until they could finish building the rest of the house.
From 1938 to around 1945, families would build and reside in these basements with the hope of eventually completing them into one- or two-story homes. This method of construction was popular because it was more affordable than constructing an entire house all at once. Currently, very few of these homes remain in their original basement-only form.
Asahel Bush, Hope Houses Dot Utah Countryside, The Evening Independent, April 18, 1941, St. Petersburg, FL.
515 E 100 S, Morgan, Utah, Laurel Rock and his family, Morgan County Historical Society
3690 N. Morgan Valley Drive, Peterson. Alfred, Josephene Bohman home, Morgan County Historical Society.

10/16/2026

Devil's Slide was also home to Italian, slavic, and Austrian immigrants. Adelmo Matteucci immigrated from Tuscany, Italy, to the United States in 1914, with his mother and sister. His father, Giuseppe was working at the cement factory. Immigrant families were often paid less than native-born ones, so multiple people needed to work to support the family. At the age of twelve, old Adelmo started working in the cement factory with his father.

10/15/2026

Did you know that Morgan County was home to several Japanese American families? From 1910-1942, Japanese American families lived near the cement factory at Devil's Slide. Before 1923, Japanese workers lived in tin roofed shacks that they often built themselves. The white and Japanese children attended school together. Parents also had the opportunity to take night classes and learn English. Church and after-school activities were also integrated. The Devil's Slide Boy Scout troop had several Nissei (second-generation) children. The Japanese workers also supported the local minor league baseball team, the Devil's Slide Red Devils. Japanese workers would also supplement their meager incomes by selling excess produce from their gardens

10/14/2026

James Scott McNiven was a perennial homesteader. He came to Morgan in 1868 and received the deed to his land in 1872. In 1884, McNiven and his wife Lydia were called by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to homestead in Arizona. After helping the community of St. John’s, Arizona, he went to Big Bend Wyoming, where he settled permanently. The McNiven family sold their Morgan homestead to Lydia’s brother, Joseph Littlefield in 1884, who lived here until he died in 1909. Following probate, his children sold the home to Carl and Eva Butters in 1914

10/09/2026

The Morgan Depot turns one hundred next month! Join us on November 7th for a free community event! Tour the depot, win prizes, and put your "piece" in Morgan history with a community art project.

10/08/2026

Thomas Shore Wadsworth immigrated to Utah in 1853. After practicing medicine in Ogden and Lehi for several years, he moved to Morgan in 1889. Wadsworth was an important man in Morgan City. He helped build a bridge between South Morgan and North Morgan, finally connecting the two halves of the city. Thomas was also the City’s postmaster, juvenile judge, and a census taker in 1900. He built this home at 195 W. Young Street that same year.

Address

98 N. Commercial Street
Morgan, UT
84050

Opening Hours

Monday	12pm - 5pm
Tuesday	12pm - 5pm
Wednesday	12pm - 5pm
Thursday	12pm - 5pm
Friday	12pm - 5pm

Website

http://historicalsociety.morgancountyutah.gov/

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