Archives West Finding Aid

Logan was one of the first cities in Utah to form a school district by consolidating LDS ward districts in 1872. A Board of Trustees was formed consisting of Charles Card, Alvin Crocket, Robert Davidson, and Charles C. Hurst as secretary and treasurer. Hurst conducted a census of children in Logan City between the ages of six and sixteen and a school tax was levied. There was a 1% tax for tuition and a 1% tax for incidental expenses. Bonds were originally sold to raise money for the purchase of school sites, materials to build schools, and school furnishings.

Lindquist Hall was rented to serve as the first high school in Logan in 1872 with Ida I. Cook as principal. Cook would later serve as county school superintendent in the 1890s. Under territorial law, the superintendent co-ordinated school activities and was responsible for apportioning monies on a per capita basis. As superintendent, Cook also examined prospective teachers credentials and hired most of the teachers for the district.

In 1893, the Board of Education of the City of Logan was elected, with Seth A. Laughton president, Richard Yeates vice-president, Christian Larsen clerk, and William Edwards treasurer. 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.

In 1928 the Logan Kindergarten Association was formed to provide kindergarten services until the Board of Education could incorporate kindergartens into the Public School System. The original officers were Rebecca E. Stewart president, Edith Bowen vice president, Beatrice Q. Smith secretary and treasurer. In 1935 the Board of Education created two kindergartens: one at Benson School and one at Woodruff School.