Morrison, Historic mountain town in Jefferson County, United States
Morrison is a small town in Jefferson County, Colorado, positioned near Bear Creek Canyon and close to the Red Rocks area, where dramatic rock formations shape the landscape. The settlement sits among foothills and geological layers that have made it significant for fossil discoveries.
A Canadian settler named George Morrison established the community and introduced the railroad from Denver in the 1870s. The town was formally incorporated decades later in 1906.
The local museum displays fossils discovered in the surrounding rocks, including some of the first Stegosaurus and Apatosaurus remains ever found. This geological past remains central to how people here understand and experience their community.
The town is set in mountain terrain and requires navigation along roads that wind through canyons and open country. Plan time to explore at a relaxed pace and allow for unpredictable weather conditions in this elevated location.
A layer of rock below the town called the Morrison Formation became world-famous for its fossils excavated by scientists during the 1870s. The geological formation was later named after the town itself and remains a reference point in paleontology.
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