Morris County sits near the borders of Oklahoma and Arkansas in northeast Texas. The most populous city and county seat is Daingerfield, home of Daingerfield State Park. Like other East Texas counties, Caddo Indians inhabited the area before European-Anglos occupied the land in the 1830s. The territory that became Morris County encompassed five surrounding counties in Arkansas and Texas, particularly Miller County. The Texas Legislature formed Titus County in 1846, which included the future Morris County, yet the county did not receive official incorporation until May 12, 1875.
In the first decade, Morris County witnessed a meager population that farmed and earned a living producing cotton, corn, and cattle. From the 1880s through the 1920s, a small population grew considerably larger and continued to grow corn and profited greatly from cotton production. The Great Depression hurt the economy hard, owing to a decrease in land values and inflation of farming prices. Despite the loss of land values, those who owned farms increased during the 1930s and the 1940s. The products sold during the same period were cotton and corn.
Morris County's economy experienced a growth during World War II. The county's rich deposits of iron ore were put to use in the Federal United States Defense Plant Corporation. After World War II and into the late 1900s, the county's economic infrastructure expanded to include manufacturing in farming activities along with cattle ranching.
Museum/Historic Site
Text: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm19 Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association.