During Morgan County's early farming days, corn, oats, wheat and barley were the primary crops. Eventually, cotton became the most important crop after the end of the Civil War. In fact, in 1920, cotton yielded 36,197 bales on 76,041 acres! As occurred in most of the South, the boll weevil infestation took its toll and with this drastic blow to the economy, the 1920 population of 20,143 decreased to 12,488 by 1930. Much of the cotton acreage was converted to pastureland and it was used for cattle.