About
Logan Child Development Center
Helping Families Succeed. Providing quality daycare service since 1956!!!
Through the cooperation and partnership of area churches, community, and civic organizations, the Department of Charities and Welfare in Raleigh, NC (now known as the Department of Social Services), and the City of Concord - the first Logan Day Care facility was established.
Originally named The Community Nursery Association, the daycare changed its name in 1960 to the Logan Community Day Care Association, but was (and still is) often referred to as the Logan Day Care Center.
Under the leadership and vision of Marian W. Boyd and members of the Charlotte A. Percival Club of Federated Women, Logan Day Care was established to provide educational child care experiences for children of low-income families. Had it not been for this program, some parents otherwise would not have been able to meet the financial demands for preschool care for their children.
The first facility opened on Lincoln Street, in the southwest district of Concord, in the Logan Homes Housing Project (the site of which is currently the City of Concord Department of Housing’s Logan Homes Community Center (304 Lincoln Street). Grace O’Neal was the day care’s first teacher. She was a very dedicated woman who often went unpaid for her services.
Because times were hard during those days, and there were very limited resources, not only was there usually no money available for salaries, the food supply was often short. But due to the compassion of a local business owner, Mr. Swaringen, owner of The Food Center grocery store, the daycare was allowed to receive food on credit and the children did not go unfed. (The Food Center was previously located at the site of the current Dragon Palace Restaurant on Spring Street).
Following its initial operation, John Larkin, a consultant for Negro Affairs with the Department of Charities and Welfare in Raleigh, NC (now the Department of Social Services), established a board of directors so that the daycare could obtain its certification and licensing with the state of North Carolina.
The Logan Community Day Care was the first daycare in Cabarrus County to be licensed by the state. It was later incorporated on April 11, 1972.
The facility first opened with ten (10) children. Parents were only charged a fee of $1.50 per week for each child.
But as the need for child care expanded, the need for a second site was needed. First Presbyterian Church, which is located on Union Street in Concord, then offered its missions building, which was located in the community at the corner of Lincoln and Brief Street (now the site of First Church of God of Prophecy) as a second facility.
The two sites remained opened until spacing became available at the former Logan School cafeteria at 204 Booker Street. The daycare remained at this site until a new building was erected at its present location, 185 Rone Avenue, on June 3, 2003.
Although the Logan Community Day Care started with meager beginnings, its founders and supporters had a great vision. That vision is now a leading organization in providing quality childcare and education.