The town of Logan was founded in 1859 by Mormon settlers sent by Brigham
Young to survey for the site of a fort near the banks of the Logan River. They
named their new community Logan for Ephraim Logan, an early fur trapper in the
area. Logan was incorporated on 17 January 1866. Work for a Latter-day Saint
tabernacle and a temple began shortly thereafter, with the Logan Utah Temple
being dedicated in 1884, and the Logan Tabernacle in 1891. Brigham Young
College was founded here in 1878 (but later closed) and Utah State University –
then called the Agricultural College of Utah – was founded in 1888.