Timeline
1887
March: Johnson Tract is selected by Lieutenant-General Sheridan as a location for the base. Officially the post was “Camp Near the City of Denver,” but some local residents hope it will be named “Fort Sheridan.”
October: First federal troops arrive in Denver, Eighteenth Infantry. The post officially opens on October 31 with Major George K. Brady as commander.
November: Frank J. Grodavent, civilian architect, is appointed as the architect for Fort Logan. Capt. Lafayette E. Campbell, Quartermaster, arrives to oversee construction.
1888
Denver and Rio Grande Railroad builds spur line to Fort Logan. Construction of permanent buildings begins.
1889
April: Post is officially designated as Fort Logan by the Secretary of War.
May: Two companies of the Seventh Infantry join garrison.
October: Companies from Eighteenth Infantry are relieved; two additional companies and the headquarters of the Seventh Infantry arrive at the base. Col. Henry Clay Merriam begins assignment as commanding officer at Fort Logan.
1891
Two cavalry stables are built.
1894
March: Troops are sent to Denver to control possible conflict in the “City Hall War.” Troops return to the post without getting involved.
July: Five companies of the Seventh Infantry are sent to Trinidad and Raton to control the Pullman strike affecting railroad traffic.
October: The first cavalry units are stationed at Fort Logan and the first Signal Corps observation balloon is sent here. Sgt. Ivy Baldwin, a noted aerialist, is in charge of the balloon.
1894-1909
Fort Logan is base camp for the 2nd, 7th, 15th, 18th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, and 29th Regiments of Infantry, as well as for the 2nd, 5th, 6th and 14th Regiments of Cavalry – none stay long.
1898
April: Seventh Infantry departs to fight in the Spanish-American War. The Signal Corps observation balloon is sent to Cuba.
1899
Thirty-fourth Infantry, U.S. Volunteers are organized and trained at Fort Logan before being sent to the Philippines.
1904
Last cavalry units leave Fort Logan.
1905
960 acres in Douglas County, approximately 20 miles from Fort Logan, are purchased for use as a target range.
1908
338.4 acres are purchased, including water rights, and added to Fort Logan Military Reservation.
1909
Fort Logan is made a recruit depot.
1917-1919
Fort Logan used as a Regular Army post, Recruit Depot, and a Demobilization Camp.
1922
By General Orders of the War Department, it again becomes a garrison post.
1924-1925
Dwight D. Eisenhower is assigned at the post, living in the building next door to this one on the east side.
1927
Second Engineers take over at Fort Logan.
1929
First Battalion of the Thirty-eight Infantry arrives to form a garrison for five years.
1930s
Used as state headquarters and supply outfit for Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps.
1937-1941
Post rehabilitated using $1,000,000 in Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds.
1939
Eighteenth Engineers replace Second Engineers.
1940
By direction of the Secretary of War, Fort Logan is designated a sub-post of Lowry Field, under control of the Chief of Air Corps, to continue until June 1941. Also used as a War Department Processing Center (WDPC). A receiving post for induction or separation from all branches of the Army.
1941
Eighteenth Engineers depart for California. Lowry Field installs clerk-typist school for its Air Corps personnel. Fort Logan is used as a holding place for a limited number of German prisoners of war.
1944
Used as convalescent center for Air Force crews.
1944-1946
Used as a discharge center.
1946
Veterans Administration continues to use the hospital until occupancy of new VA hospital in 1951. Skeleton crews of VA personnel remain until 1960.
1950
Fort Logan National Cemetery is established October, 1950 to include the original post cemetery and additional land from the military post.
1960
Federal government deeds 308 acres to the State of Colorado for a mental health center.