Morrison,_Colorado

Morrison, Colorado

The Town of Morrison is a Home Rule Municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The population was 430 at the 2000 census. It is notably where Red Rocks Amphitheatre is located, which started in 1928.

History

In 1877, the holotypic remains of the dinosaurs Stegosaurus armatus and Apatosaurus ajax were discovered in and near Morrison by Arthur Lakes. The majority of these fossils were shipped to O.C. Marsh at Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut. These finds from the Morrison area figured in the 19th century "Bone Wars" between rival paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh.

Eventually, the late Jurassic section of sedimentary rock excavated by Lakes was dubbed the Morrison Formation in honor of the town.

The Morrison Natural History Museum in Morrison houses and displays some fossils found by Lakes and has begun reworking Lakes' original digs. In 2006, the MNHM reported rare adult Stegosaurus tracks from the Morrison area. A year later the first hatchling Stegosaurus tracks were reported. These fossils are on display at the Morrison Natural History Museum.

Cretaceous age dinosaur tracks and one of Lakes' histoic dig sites can still be viewed on what is now known as Dinosaur Ridge east of Morrison.

Geography

Morrison is located at (39.651764, -105.190344).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²), all of it land.

Morrison is southwest of Denver and is located on State Highway 470.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 430 people, 125 households, and 73 families residing in the town. The population density was 194.7 people per square mile (75.1/km²). There were 136 housing units at an average density of 61.6/sq mi (23.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.84% White, 0.23% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.23% from other races, and 0.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.86% of the population.

There were 125 households out of which 23.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.6% were non-families. 33.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the town the population was spread out with 11.9% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 20.2% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 43.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 58 years. For every 100 females there were 64.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 62.0 males. Population statistics are influenced by the large number of town residents who domicile in the Bear Creek Nursing Home.

The median income for a household in the town was $53,438, and the median income for a family was $68,333. Males had a median income of $37,292 versus $30,893 for females. The per capita income for the town was $24,347. About 4.9% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.8% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.