A Rich History

Morris County was established on ancient grounds of the Kaw American Indian tribe. Settlers and the Kaw lived in an increasingly uneasy relationship as settlers encroached on native lands.

Council Grove was established by European Americans in 1825, and was an important supply station on the Santa Fe Trail. The town was also the site of an encampment by John C. Fremont in 1845, and in 1849 the Overland Mail established a supply headquarters here. From 1821 to 1866, the Santa Fe Trail was active across Morris County.

The county was originally organized as Wise County in 1855. The county was named for Virginia Governor Henry A. Wise. When Wise presided over the hanging of abolitionist John Brown at Harper's Ferry in 1859, abolition supporters renamed it to Morris County in honor of Thomas Morris, a former United States Senator from Ohio who was an opponent of slavery.

The Kaw Mission is now open
Read all about it: click here

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Check out our new virtual tours!

Click on the link below and it will take

you to our YouTube channel!

Seth Hays Home Virtual Tour

Post Office Oak Virtual Tour

Our Purpose

"The purpose of this Society shall be to represent the historical interest of Morris County and its citizens; to promote and encourage interest in history, with an emphasis on local history, through exhibits, educational programs and activities; to do research and disseminate information to the public; to collect, preserve and work for the preservation of objects, historic structures, manuscripts, publications, photographs and other materials and information relating to the history of Morris County and its citizens; to administer any property owned by MCHS and to carry on any historical, educational, interpretive and research activities relating to the properties, collections and the interests of the Society."

The Kaw Mission is now open Read all about it: click here