The 1902 Morrow County Courthouse in Heppner replaced an earlier wooden frame courthouse. Morrow County was created in 1885 from the western portion of Umatilla County and a small portion of eastern Wasco County. It was named after Jackson Lee Morrow an early settler in the area and member of the Legislative Assembly when the county was created.
Morrow County is located in the north central part of the state and east of the Cascade Mountains.
The county is bounded by the Columbia River on the north, Umatilla County on the east, Grant County on the south, and Gilliam County on the west. The county contains 2,049 square miles. Heppner was designated the temporary county seat at the time the county was created and narrowly defeated Lexington in the election held in 1886 to determine the permanent county seat. Heppner was originally called Standsbury Flat for George W. Standsbury, one of the first white settlers in the area. The settlement's name was changed to Heppner in 1873, in honor of Henry Heppner who in partnership with Jackson Morrow had established a store in the town a year earlier.