This history of the neighborhood plays a vital part in the identity of its residents. If you have lived in the neighborhood for many years, the neighborhood history is a heartfelt reminder of days gone by. If you have just come to call the neighborhood home, it is a way to learn more about the new community you have joined. We would love nothing more than to be able to share the history of neighborhood name with all who reside there. If you are interested in writing a brief history of the neighborhood to share with the community, please contact us! |
- A little bit of Sugar House history...Although not so much as one cube of sugar was ever produced at the sugar mill responsible for the community’s name, the Sugar House area evolved, over the course of time, into one of the sweet spots of the Salt Lake Valley.
Officially established in 1853, six years after Brigham Young led settlers down Emigration Canyon proclaiming this to be the place, Sugar House soon became known for its fine shopping and friendly atmosphere.
The name, which came at the suggestion of Margaret McMeans Smoot, was in accordance with the sugar mill that was under construction at the time.
One complication led to the next, however, and when equipment that was being shipped form Arras, France, never arrived, the idea of the sugar mill was eventually scrapped. The building was subsequently used as a paper mill, woolen factory and bucket-and-tub works, so not all was lost.
Today, Sugar House remains one of Salt Lake City’s most treasured areas. While some long-time residents yearn for the simple days of yesteryear, the area continues to attract new residents seeking a strong community – and sense of the past.
Steve Richard, St., chairman of the board of Granite Furniture, a staple in the Sugar House business sector for 85 years, has spent his entire life in the community.
“Our store was founded in 1910 when five or six guys got together and put in $5,000 to get it going,” Richards said, “I probably started working there when I was 10 years old. There was always a good feeling in those days; even between our competitors there was a good feeling. We would go in together on community promotions, things like Turkey Days and Sugar Days, with our competitors. We would bring in thousands of people from around the area for those events.”
Ron Greensides, 55, vice president of Sugar House Van Lines, remembers well such community events.
“I remember Turkey Days. They would toss live turkeys off the top of the Rockwood Furniture building and everyone would chase them all around,” Greensides recalled. “They only threw live turkeys for a couple of years because some of the birds got injured, which is expected when you think about all those people diving around on the ground for them.”
As the central commercial area in the city, Sugar House attracted various businesses and services, making shopping a convenient and pleasurable experience for young and old alike.
“It was a wonderful place to grow up,” Richards said. “It was the first developed shopping area in the city and it had all kinds of store. All kinds of businesses began springing up. It grew and grew. In downtown Salt Lake City people had to pay to park. There were meters. But in Sugar House we always had plenty of free parking. City officials used to tell us about putting parking meters in, but we told them if they made us do that, we’d start our own city.”
Such a strong sense of community and tradition can still be found in the Sugar House area today. Turkey Days remains an annual event, although on a much smaller scale, and a new gathering - the Sugar House Street Festival – will be held July 13-14, 1996.
The Street Festival will attract various artists from around the state to display and peddle their wares. Good food and live music will also be the order of the day.
Sugar House, which is primarily located between 1300 South and 3300 South, and 500 East and 2300 East, also features two of the city’s oldest public gold courses – Forest Dale and Nibley Park. Both courses feature tree-lined fairways, uncommon on many of the newer courses in the city.
Sugar House Park, site of the state’s first penitentiary, and Fairmont Park are other outdoor facilities perfect for throwing frisbees or catching rays.
The penitentiary was commissioned by Young in 1853. Two years later the first adobe buildings, surrounded by 12-foot walls, were occupied by prisoners. Albert Perry Rockwood served as the first warden.
In 1882, following the prison’s second restoration, 244 steel cells – with a prison capacity of 250 – filled the facility.
The prison was demolished in 1951, 96 years after its construction, and was relocated to its present location at the Point of the Mountain, midway between Salt Lake City and Provo.
Del Brewster, president of the Sugar House Chamber of Commerce, foresees big things in the community’s future.
“The major attraction is the old, established neighborhoods,” Brewster said. “These neighborhoods represent a good quality of life. When people move here they tell us the uniqueness of the neighborhoods, the big, old trees, that’s what attracted them.”
Brewster also said the location of Sugar House can’t be overlooked. Situated 10 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City and 15 minutes from the mouth of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, few areas around the city can compare with its convenience.
“We have a very strong real-estate market,” Brewster explained. “There are very few vacancies. It seems like the only time people leave the area is because of death. It is a great place to make a real-estate investment.”
Brewster is also excited about the direction the business sector has taken. A new 234-unit apartment complex is being constructed on the site of the old Irving Junior High School, and the block from 2100 S to Wilmington Avenue, and Highland Dr. to 1300 East has been earmarked to receive a major facelift, thus attracting additional businesses to the community. Brewster said that construction on the project is scheduled to begin by the middle of next year.
The population of Sugar House offers more than just convenient and varied shopping and an ideal location. It offers a past filled with tradition and charm, conditions still very much alive in the neighborhood today.
Published in the Salt Lake Tribune November 5, 1995
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Fire StationSugar House’s commemorate Sesquicentennial plates were made by Fred Conlon and Kevin Winn at Sugar Post Pottery, located in Salt Lake City’s Old Firehouse #3, at 1135 East 21st South. The fire station was built in 1914, when Sugar House business leaders organized an effort to pave the streets and create a municipal center in the business district. In 1940, a police office was established in the fire station. Even after the engine company left, the building was used as a recreation facility for the firemen. (1969)
When Sterling Furniture acquired the building, it was leased as a retail space to Fire House Antiques. For fifteen years, the Golf Cart occupied the old station and the bowling alley next to it. Salt Lake Color was the last tenant before Sugar Post Pottery moved from their bungalow on 1100 East in 2002.
Spoons ‘n Spice started at 1221 East 2100 South, then moved into the McIntyre Center.
This story was added by a resident of Sugar House.
