Bosque County: Land and People (A History of Bosque County, Texas) Page: 78
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then appointed postmaster. Mail arrived
semi-weekly. Since there was no definite
schedule, people were notified of mail arrival
by the blast of a bugle.
In 1880, the Central Texas Railroad moved
westward from Waco and the little town's
name was changed from Steele Creek to
Morgan. It was named for a stockholder and
official of the railroad, Thomas Morgan.
Ed Nichols recalled, as a youth, sitting on
a platform in 1880, listening to an auctioneer
call for bids for lots in Morgan. John Carson
paid $500.00 for the first lot to build a saloon.
John Kelly bought the second lot for a hotel,
and the third lot sold for $450.00 on which to
build a saloon. Other lots sold quickly and the
town began to grow.
In 1882, the Santa Fe Railroad came to the
new town and combined with the Central
Texas Railroad. This merger made Morgan
a major railhead. Huge cattle loading pens
were built and people from miles around
drove their cattle and horses to Morgan for
rail shipment to market.
Lumber for the first school was bought
with money donated by the people. Samuel
Nichols gave two blocks of land for the school
site and Ed Nichols took two wagons and
teams to Fort Worth, a distance of sixty
miles, to get the lumber. They camped along
the way and were back within a week. That
first school was destroyed by a storm. Later
buildings were multi-storied structures. The
present facility was renovated in 1955 from
a two-story building into the modern brick
building now in use. It continues as an active
and well attended school.
At one time Morgan boasted seven hotels,
an opera house where plays and traveling
shows were performed, a telephone office,
Katy and Santa Fe Railroad service with
three passenger trains daily, four cotton gins,
a cotton seed oil mill, a broom factory, an ice
plant, and a newspaper. Artesian wells, which
are still in use, furnished water for the city
of Morgan.
Also during these days of prosperity, there
were two livery stables, a saddle shop, and
two drug stores, one of which was owned by
a Mr. Bridgeformer, and the other by T.L.
Rogers who also owned the oldest house now
standing in Morgan, built over one hundred
years ago. His granddaughter still lives in
Morgan. There were also general merchan-
dise stores, one of which was the Craven Store
which operated from 1911 to 1951.
Two doctors practiced medicine in Morgan
for many years-Dr. Maples who died in 1938
and is buried in Morgan Cemetery and Dr.
C.C. Cate whose old home and office still
stand in Morgan.
Population of Morgan during this era
averaged about 1300.
As for improvements within the past
decade, three new classrooms and library
space have been added to the high school
building. In 1984 a Texas Historical Marker
was placed on the First United Methodist
Church. A sewer system was begun and
finished in 1984. The First Baptist Church
was torn down and a new one is nearing
completion on the same lot.
From 1880 until now, Morgan has been and
is a typical Texas town, built by the hard
work of men and women who were striving for
a better, safer, more rewarding life for
themselves and their children.
Additional notes on pre-Depression busi-
ness methods as submitted by Ruth Craven
78Street Scene, circa 1900
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Morgan Street Scene with Rogers Drug Store and
Morgan DepotMorgan Street Scene with Rogers Drug Store and
Martin Bros. Dry Goods Store
/Old Morgan Road Bridge from Meridian
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Scene on Steel's Creek, Morgan
Rogers Ice Co.
Morgan Post OfficeMorgan School
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Bosque County History Book Committee. Bosque County: Land and People (A History of Bosque County, Texas), book, 1985; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth91038/m1/94/?q=campbell: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library.