The Logan post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Logan Court House (1826), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 444 in 19002020 census: 1,439134 years
How historic is Logan?
B+
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Logan post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Logan’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Logan is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Logan’s overall grade.
West Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical West Virginia town has 29.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Logan’s 7.7 sits near the middle of its state (50% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±13.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Logan’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 5,166 in 1940; 1,439 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Logan’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Logan, building by building, 1910–1922
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
What is now Logan was initially called "Islands of the Guyandot" by explorers who identified the site in the 1780s. In 1827, a town was laid out at the site to serve as a county seat for Logan County, which had been established in 1824. The city was initially known as "Lawsonsville" after Anthony Lawson, an early merchant, but was shortened to "Lawnsville." In the early 1850s, Thomas Dunn English, a poet and future congressman, led efforts to reorganize the town. When the town incorporated in 1852, it was renamed "Aracoma" after the Shawnee chief Cornstalk's daughter, who had been killed by settlers in the area in 1780. The city was renamed "Logan" in 1907 after the Mingo leader, Chief Logan.
Passages that mention Logan, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the city of Logan, W. Va. [West Virginia], 1823-19161916Read the page →
Read the text
to the wilds of the Guyan river and engaged in the fur and ginseng trade. Mr. Lawson first settled near the present site of Oceana, where he remained about four years and then moved to the present site of Logan, where he remained until his death, which occurred in Guyandotte, in 1846, while he was returning from Philadelphia, where he had been to purchase goods. He had established his store near the present site of the passenger station, this being the first
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the city of Logan, W. Va. [West Virginia], 1823-19161916Read the page →
Read the text
The first church house to be built in the city of Logan was the one discarded a little more than a year ago. The author is in error in stating in the article relative to the First Baptist Church that this was the first church for we found upon further investigation that these churches were constructed at the same time and by the same builders and there being a contest on between the churches at the time as to which would be completed first. The Methodist
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Logan, 1826 to 1974
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Logan post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Logan rank for history?
Logan is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Logan?
One place: the Chafin House (listed 1994).
How old are the homes in Logan?
37% of Logan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.2 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1959.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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