According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.4 square mile (1.1 km2), all land.

During the Civil War (1861–1865), they built the temporary fortress settlement of Mugginsville on Deep Creek 5 miles north of the future town site of Moran.

Hulltown, the original name of the town, was established by Mary and George Washington "Swope" Hull of McDowell, Virginia, who opened a general store at the rail crossing on Deep Creek in 1883.

He bought 160 acres between Post Oak and Deep Creeks and platted a town site in March 1884 (he and his family would later move to Oakland, California).

Most of the property was bought by Bem Scott, a real estate developer from Indiana, who eventually sold his interests in 1890 to Matthew D. Bray (1845–1926), a prominent local merchant and landowner.

By 1900, the community had several businesses, a school and Baptist, Church of Christ, Cumberland Presbyterian, and Methodist congregations.

By October 1913, with five producing gas wells, the Moran Field won recognition as one of the most important sources of fossil fuels in Texas.

For the next fifteen years, oil and gas discoveries in the area made Moran a boom town with a peak population of 5,000–10,000 at one point in the 1920s.

In the late 1980s, Moran achieved fame as the home of the National Fajita Cook-off, which brought thousands of visitors from all over the world to the sleepy town.

In the 2000s, Moran became home to Slide Fire Solutions, a multi-million dollar bump stock production company.