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 1853, 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.