Why I like Sugarhouse

Every now and again, I take a break from the office and get out to visit a school or even better just simply go for a drive.  I usually end up in Sugarhouse.  It's not too far from my office.  It's a nice little community tucked away in the southeast corner of Salt Lake City.  I can't drive through the area without reminiscing about days gone by.  My grandparents lived close to Sugarhouse; Dr. Newton's office was there and and after a visit to either place it was common to stop by Snelgroves for a yummy ice cream cone, a sundae or a malt or NuCrisp Popcorn for an individual bag of buttered or caramel popcorn.  I could never figure out why the bag of caramel popcorn was smaller in quantity than the butter.

I remember going to the only Sugarhouse department store, Keith O'Brien's (KOB).  Grandpa Eccles' sister Deloras worked there for years.  Both my grandmothers shopped there.  Granite Furniture and Southeast Furniture were the only places to buy furniture, appliances, carpet, and more.  You could set up accounts at either store (90 days same as cash or longer) for purchases as small as $100.  Walker Bank was just across the street from Granite Furniture and I remember going there with Grandma Eccles a few times.


At Christmastime, Santa was always waiting to visit with little ones in a little shed-like house on the Sugarhouse diagonal (2100 S 1100 E).  And we always drove through the Blaine Street and Christmas Street neighborhoods to see the lights.

It's been nearly fifty years since many of those memories were made and they are still fresh in my mind when I take time to escape the office and take a nice warm ride down a memory lane -- 21st South through Sugarhouse.


I like the new features of Sugarhouse -- Barnes and Noble shopping area, Sundance Catalog Store, Sugarhouse Park, the Dodo Restaurant, Schmidt's Bakery and the newly rebuilt McDonald's.  I guess the bottom line is that Sugarhouse is one of those comfort places I like to visit again and again.