[2] The county was organized January 5, 1833, and named for General Daniel Morgan of the American Revolutionary War.

Versailles, with a name referring to the French royal estate near Paris, France, was designated as the county seat and platted in 1854.

Established in 1853 there, the Martin Hotel was visited in the post-Civil War period by both showman and circus entrepreneur P. T. Barnum and outlaw robber Jesse James.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1978, it now operates as a museum.

The Morgan County Courthouse in Versailles, which has also been listed on the NRHP, was designed with French-style details, such as a mansard roof, in keeping with the origin of the town's name.

Coal mining was historically an important economic activity in Morgan County.

The Republican Party controls politics at the local level in Morgan County.