EXHIBITS
The Island Market: Logan's Historic Corner Market: Logan Island History
Logan Island History
The area of Logan tucked in between First Dam and the two branches of the Logan River is fondly know by longtime Loganites as “the Island.” Located by the mouth of Logan Canyon and bordered by rivers and wildflower-dotted hills on either side, the Island is the perfect geographic setting for fostering a close-knit community and an identity as a neighborhood.
The “Island” name was in use long before today. The map survey (above) uses the name “Logan Island” and was created sometime at the end of the 1800s. Although we do not have any recorded uses of this name in earlier years, we know that the area of the Logan Island had residents since the early founding of Logan City.
“Unlike Main Street, or Center Street, or 400 North Street, which are streets of commerce, the Little Logan River is the raison d’etre of the City of Logan.”
—Virginia C. Parker[2]
“Settlers on the Island retained their agrarian lifestyle until after World War II... pastures were subdivided into sites for apartments and subdivisions for small homes, most financed by... the G.I. Bill.”
—Virginia C. Parker[3]
Virginia C. Parker, a long-time Logan resident, wrote a short book on the unique history of the Logan Island. The History of the Logan Island is accessible to read by clicking on the image above. It contains stories about the people, families, and landmarks (like Merlin Olsen Central Park and the Logan River canals) of the Logan Island.
The Logan Island area was used for agriculture in Logan’s early days. Most of what we call the Island today was owned by Niels Mikkelsen, an immigrant from Denmark, beginning in the late 1800s. When other immigrants from Scandinavia would arrive in Logan, they were told to go to Mikkelsen for help.
Mikkelsen gave away small plots of land to these immigrants to help them start their new lives in Logan as farmers. The business that would become the Island Market was built on one of these plots when the first owners bought it around the year 1919 from one of the immigrants Mikkelsen had helped.[4]
The Seventh Ward
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints determined that the boundaries of the Island would also make for the boundaries of what was at the time the Seventh Ward. This name is vital to the story of the Island Market because one of the names of the store preceding the "Island Market" was the "Seventh Ward Grocery," used while the store was run by C. Norman Skanchy. (See the “Timeline 1919-1934: Skanchy's Renters” page).
“In every community in the state the two outstanding buildings are the church and the school.”
—Louis A. Peterson, School Superintendent, quoted in The Journal[5]
Having the Island Market located so close to these center points of the neighborhood demonstrates the part it has to play in the creation of the neighborhood.
Seventh Ward Chapel
In 1906 A. G. Lundstrom sold a portion of his family’s land to the Church so it could build a meetinghouse for Island residents.[6] Due to the overwhelming majority of residents being members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Island began to be referred to as the Seventh Ward, a name that became easily recognizable even outside the ward’s boundaries.[7]
The old Seventh Ward Chapel survived until sometime before the 1978 map was drawn. Map 1, as shown above, includes where the building used to stand. The land began to be used as a field for the Wilson School sometime before 1978, as shown by Map 2 (also shown above).
The Wilson School
“In 1908 the Cache County Commission abolished small school districts creating the Cache County School District. By the 1920s, the individual schools represented by the Logan City School District were Benson School, Whittier School, Wilson School, Woodruff School, Ellis School Webster School, Logan Junior High School and Logan High School.”
—Julia Kenyon for Utah State University SCA[8]
The Wilson School, another landmark of the Island, is an elementary school that is located on the southeast corner of Lot 3 Block 19 Plat C, the same plat where the Island Market is located. Located in the Seventh Ward, the school was built right next to the church. The school was officially opened in the fall of 1926.[9] In 1872, Logan formed a school district by consolidating ward districts for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, making it one of the first Utah cities to do so.[10] Just over a decade later, The Wilson School was approved for an addition through the New Deal, which was completed in 1939.[11] The Wilson School continues to run today, having taught generations of students in the Logan Island area.
Memories
Residents who have lived “down in the Island” range from grandparents to families to college students. Many of those with connections to Logan fondly recall visits to their grandparents and walks that involved picking penny candies or returning golf balls at the Island Market. Former college students bring their children on trips exploring their old student homes and share stories of climbing the hill leading to Utah State’s campus.
This “Island” is a place filled with memories and a place that creates connections. The Island Market has played a central role in the life of the Island community since its beginning in the early 1900s.
“Island Market was and is a center piece of the history of the ‘Island.’ It is the thread that runs through the fabric and soul of that neighborhood."
—Richard Hansen, son of one of the previous owners of the Island Market.[12]
Endnotes:
[2] Virginia C. Parker, A History of Logan Island (Logan: Unknown publisher, 2007), page 14. Utah State University, Special Collections and Archives, Virginia Parker Papers, UUS_COLL MSS 396.
[3] Virginia C. Parker, A History of Logan Island (Logan: Unknown publisher, 2007), page 18. Utah State University, Special Collections and Archives, Virginia Parker Papers, UUS_COLL MSS 396.
[4] The seventh paragraph starts with “Niels owned many acres of land in Logan...”
Lula Mickelson, “The History of Ephraim Mickelson,” ed. Elva Mickelson. (FamilySearch.org public memory, 2018). Available at: https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/63311446?cid=mem_copy
[5] Section taken from an article on the opening of the new Wilson School. “New Wilson School All Ready For Occupancy” on page 11 of The Journal, October 16, 1926. Digitally published at Newspapers.com. Available at: https://universityofutah.newspapers.com/image/597302978
[6] Page 5 of The Logan Republican, December 1906. Digitally published at Utah Digital Newspapers, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah. Retrieved August 1, 2022. Available at: https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=4712171
[7] Page 8 of The Herald Journal, October 2, 1939. Digitally published at Newspapers.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022. Available at: from https://universityofutah.newspapers.com/image/636856105/?terms=seventh+ward&match=1
[8] “Historical Note” section in the finding aid for Logan City School District, 1872-1951. Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives Division (UUS_COLL MSS 237). Finding aid created by Julia Kenyon, 2012. Archives West. Available at: https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv59082#:~:text=Logan%20was%20one%20of%20the,Hurst%20as%20secretary%20and%20Treasurer
[9] “New Wilson School All Ready For Occupancy” on page 7 of The Journal, October 16, 1926. Digitally published at Newspapers.com. Available at: https://universityofutah.newspapers.com/clip/102560653/the-new-wilson-school-opening/
[10] “Historical Note” section in the finding aid for Logan City School District, 1872-1951. Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives Division (UUS_COLL MSS 237). Finding aid created by Julia Kenyon, 2012. Archives West. Available at: https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv59082#:~:text=Logan%20was%20one%20of%20the,Hurst%20as%20secretary%20and%20Treasurer
[11] “Wilson Elementary School Addition – Logan UT” The Living New Deal. Retrieved August 17, 2022. Available at: https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/wilson-elementary-school-addition-logan-ut/
[12] Quote from Richard Hansen, son of previous owners of the store at 400 East and Center Street (later the Island Market), on information relating to the history of the Island Market to help with this digital exhibit. Steven Emile, email message to Sydney Lehenbauer, exhibit curator, June 24, 2022.