Formerly: Spade Ranch Store (1898–1967) · Morgan's Store
Ellsworth, Nebraska · Founded 1970 · Building: 1898
A ranch-supply and Western-goods store in Ellsworth's 1898 Spade Ranch Store building, revived as Morgan's Cowpoke Haven after a three-year vacancy.
Morgan's Cowpoke Haven operates in the 1898 Spade Ranch Store building in Ellsworth, Nebraska. The building was originally constructed as office headquarters, a general store, a post office, and a freight-wagon supplier for the vast Spade Ranch. After the original store passed through multiple owners and stood vacant from 1967 to 1970, former Spade cowboy Veldon Morgan restarted the location as Morgan's Cowpoke Haven, a tack and Western-goods business now operated by his son Wade.
Bartlett Richards of the Spade Ranch hired W. T. Merritt and Sons to build the structure as Spade Ranch office headquarters, a company general store, post office, and freight-wagon supplier.
Source: Society of Architectural Historians Archipedia, “Morgan's Store”
The Spade Ranch was foreclosed upon, after which the store changed owners several times.
Source: Society of Architectural Historians Archipedia, “Morgan's Store”
Lawrence bought the building and operated the store until 1967, according to a Nebraska Life profile.
Source: Nebraska Life Magazine, “Morgan's Cowpoke Haven,” Aug. 6, 2025
The store became vacant; the vacancy lasted until 1970.
Source: Society of Architectural Historians Archipedia, “Morgan's Store”; Nebraska Life Magazine, “Morgan's Cowpoke Haven,” Aug. 6, 2025
Former Spade cowboy Veldon Morgan bought the building, renamed it Morgan's Cowpoke Haven, and converted the former general store into a custom tack shop.
Source: Nebraska Life Magazine, “Morgan's Cowpoke Haven,” Aug. 6, 2025
Wade Morgan repurchased the Ellsworth store after Weaver Leather had acquired the business and both buildings.
Source: Nebraska Life Magazine, “Morgan's Cowpoke Haven,” Aug. 6, 2025
Nebraska Life identified Wade Morgan as the current proprietor of Morgan's Cowpoke Haven.
Source: Nebraska Life Magazine, “Morgan's Cowpoke Haven,” Aug. 6, 2025
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The Society of Architectural Historians identifies the building as the former Spade Ranch Store and says Bartlett Richards hired W. T. Merritt and Sons to construct it as Spade Ranch office headquarters, a company store, post office, and freight-wagon supplier.
The 1898 date belongs to the Spade Ranch Store building and original business, not to Morgan's Cowpoke Haven. The site changed ownership after the 1927 Spade Ranch foreclosure and was vacant from 1967 until Veldon Morgan purchased and reopened it in 1970.
Nebraska Life reports that Veldon Morgan, a former Spade cowboy and rodeo champion, bought the vacant store in 1970, renamed it Morgan's Cowpoke Haven, and converted the business into a custom tack shop.
A 2025 Nebraska Life profile identifies Wade Morgan as the current proprietor and says he bought the Ellsworth store back in 1997 after a Weaver Leather ownership period.
This review found no credible contemporary newspaper, police record, court record, or historical archive connecting Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate to the Spade Ranch Store, Ellsworth, or the later Morgan's Cowpoke Haven. The claim should not be repeated as local history without an identifiable source.
Morgan's Cowpoke Haven was founded as a general store in 1898.
The 1898 building and original business were the Spade Ranch Store, a company store and headquarters for Spade Ranch. Morgan's Cowpoke Haven began in 1970 when Veldon Morgan purchased the building and converted it into a custom tack shop.
Source: Society of Architectural Historians Archipedia, “Morgan's Store”; Nebraska Life Magazine, “Morgan's Cowpoke Haven,” Aug. 6, 2025
The store has operated continuously since 1898.
The original business changed ownership after the Spade Ranch foreclosure, and the building stood vacant from 1967 until Veldon Morgan reopened it in 1970. The historic building survived, but a continuous business claim does not.
Source: Society of Architectural Historians Archipedia, “Morgan's Store”; Nebraska Life Magazine, “Morgan's Cowpoke Haven,” Aug. 6, 2025
Charles Starkweather stopped at Morgan's Cowpoke Haven while fleeing in 1958.
No credible source located in this review establishes that Charles Starkweather or Caril Ann Fugate visited the Ellsworth store. The claim should remain out of historical narrative unless supported by a contemporary police, court, newspaper, or eyewitness record.
Source: No verifiable source located in this review
Morgan's Cowpoke Haven is located at 101 Main St. and uses (308) 762-5813.
Current visitor and business listings place Morgan's Cowpoke Haven at 1358 NE-27, Ellsworth, NE 69340, with telephone number (308) 762-2666.
Source: Visit Sheridan County, “Morgan’s Cowpoke Haven”; Waze location listing; MadBarn business directory
The business survived not through uninterrupted operation, but through a historically meaningful reinvention. The old Spade Ranch company store became vacant after its mid-century operators left, then Veldon Morgan turned it into a custom tack shop with a direct connection to the ranching culture that built Ellsworth. Wade Morgan later bought the Ellsworth store back after a Weaver Leather ownership period and continues to operate it as a practical ranch-supply and Western-goods stop.
Morgan's Cowpoke Haven operates in Ellsworth's 1898 Spade Ranch Store building. The structure was built as the Spade Ranch's office headquarters, company store, post office, and freight-wagon supplier, then passed through several owners after the ranch's 1927 foreclosure. It stood vacant from 1967 to 1970, when former Spade cowboy Veldon Morgan bought it, renamed it Morgan's Cowpoke Haven, and turned it into a custom tack and Western-goods business.
No statewide oldest-store title has been established for Morgan's Cowpoke Haven. Its building dates to 1898, but the original Spade Ranch Store changed ownership after 1927 and was vacant from 1967 through 1970. Morgan's Cowpoke Haven began as its own business in 1970, so it cannot accurately be described as a continuously operating store from 1898.
Before it became Morgan's Cowpoke Haven, the building was the Spade Ranch Store. It served the Spade Ranch as office headquarters, a company general store, a post office, and a freight-wagon supplier. After a series of later owners and a 1967–1970 vacancy, Veldon Morgan converted the building into a custom tack shop in 1970.
Nebraska Life identified Wade Morgan as the current proprietor of Morgan's Cowpoke Haven in 2025. His father, Veldon Morgan, bought the vacant former Spade Ranch Store in 1970 and created the Cowpoke Haven business. The current legal operating entity and real-property ownership should still be confirmed through Nebraska business and Sheridan County property records.
1358 NE-27, Ellsworth, NE 69340
(308) 762-2666
None on file
Morgan's Cowpoke Haven is on NE-27 in Ellsworth and stocks Western wear, hunting and fishing supplies, tack, saddles, books, spices, antiques, guns, and knives. Hours and inventory can vary in this remote ranch-country location, so call ahead before making a special trip.