Pooles Island was first settled in 1879 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with John R. Poole as presiding elder. The Cedar Butte Ward was organized in 1884 with Robert L. Bybee as bishop. The Long Island Canal water right was decreed in 1880, a school began in 1881 with Susie P. Lawson as teacher, the townsite was surveyed in 1883, and a grist mill was established in 1894. A pioneer merchant was C.A. Smith, Sr. The post office was established in 1885, changing the Cedar Butte name to Menan, an Indian word for island, with Francis M. Bybee as postmaster.