Morgan County · Fort Morgan, Brush
Fort Morgan Museum offers free family fun Anyone expecting a quaint, small-town museum when they visit Fort Morgan Library & Museum for the first time is in for a big surprise. After a multi-year renovation and professional design of the permanent exhibits in the two upstairs galleries, Fort Morgan’s museum now rivals many big-city museums for quality and content. Visits to the museum, which is attached to the city’s public library, are free to all those who stop in, although donations are accepted. And Fort Morgan Museum offers a trip through northeast Colorado’s past, with a focus on the history of Morgan County and the city of Fort Morgan. There are parts that will appeal to all ages, with plenty of information history-minded adults can take in and lots to see down low that will grab little ones’ attention. Exhibits in the museum’s West Gallery cover everything from the wildlife and early history to Native Americans, the military fort that gave the city its name, settlers and homesteaders, the rise of the railroad, how irrigation changed farming, the sugar beet processing industry and the people that created the community that is there today. The East Gallery’s exhibits include a windmill, a miniature oil rig, a World War II-era airplane and displays about music, schools, technology, medicine and more. There also is a small theater with a wooden dance floor dedicated to hometown musical hero Glenn Miller, who graduated from Fort Morgan High School. Miller is said to have
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Jenni Grubbs / Fort Morgan Times
The Native Americans exhibit at Fort Morgan Museum features a real buffalo head on the wall and a teepee comparable with what one would have seen in what now is northeast Colorado.
The World War II-era airplane that hangs over one section of Fort Morgan Museum is visible through the arch-lined walkway between the West and East Galleries. The arches were designed to resemble Fort Morgan’s historic Rainbow Bridge.
discovered his love of bigband music in the little city in Morgan County. On top of that, the old Hillrose Soda Fountain was recreated in the East Gallery, with the counter, equipment behind it, and a couple tables and chairs staged to show what it looked like in operation in a tiny town a ways down the road from Fort Morgan. Some of the exhibits are made even more lifelike by
mannequins that “talk,” playing recordings describing the era they represent. Others have video monitors playing films, documentaries or other informational shows. And there are flip-books and interactive elements throughout the museum’s two permanent galleries. There also is another space in the museum downstairs that allows for hosting temporary or travelling exhibits. Those change anywhere from
monthly to quarterly, and there is an exciting list of special exhibits planned for the coming year. The museum and library also frequently offer programs that coincide with those special exhibits, along with various other special programs on weekends. Many of those are free or relatively cheap. For more information about those, visit www.cityof fortmorgan.com or call 970542-4000.