The thing about history, there's always more to come.

There are quite a few articles about Hillrose history.  We are very fortunate to have area residents chronicle Hillrose's history throughout the years.  What is special about some of these articles is they are told through the eyes of the authors.  We will be adding these articles to this page as time goes on, pardon the pun.  In the meantime, follows is a brief history as presented in our comprehensive plan.  If you have articles or photographs to contribute, please contact Town Hall if you would like to share them.

Hillrose was Morgan County’s third incorporated town and is still its smallest.

Springing up along the second railroad line constructed in this part of the South Platte Valley, the Burlington, Chicago and Quincy Railroad deemed it necessary to build a connecting spur from Union to Brush to serve the large ranches as a shipping center.  Many small farms were made possible by irrigation, no doubt spurred by the 1882 beginning of the Lower Platte & Beaver Canal delivering water to the fertile valley making this an excellent location for a town.

The land for the Town was donated by Mrs. Katherine Emerson to the Lincoln Land Co. with two restrictions: half of the land was to be donated for the town, for streets and parks and the Town and its streets were to be named for her children.  Her married daughter Rose Hill was the Town’s namesake but there was already a Rosehill in Colorado so she reversed the order of the names and Hillrose was born.  The first streets in town were named after her children: Catherine, Marietta, Dana , Rose and Charles and main street was named Emerson Street.

By 1916 Hillrose had a new school, its third, a doctor, pharmacy, lumber yard, bank, blacksmith, drayage (freight company), hotels, restaurant, post office, mercantile, churches, telephone system, carpenter, alfalfa mill, pickle factory, harness maker, barbers, groceries, creamery, churches, pool hall and even a town band.  Incorporated in 1919, Hillrose continued a steady growth until automobile travel made the larger cities more attractive for businesses and Hillrose began its peak then low cycles.

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