Development of the park began in the 1930s through the efforts of a local committee interested in establishing a state park in the area. By 1937, more than 3,000 acres of land had been acquired, much of it donated by the citizens of Stanly County. Morrow Mountain is named for one such citizen of Scotch-Irish descent, James McKnight Morrow, who donated more than 1000 acres to the State on June 29, 1920. The park was opened to the public in the summer of 1939.