Random Rambler: Sugar House Monument Plaza

The Sugar House Monument Plaza is a neat little plaza that was recently remodeled and upgraded. It features a large historic monument, a couple other little statues, and a historic old sign that has also be remodeled and retrofitted. We happened to be nearby today so, since it has been years I thought we would go check it out. we added this on to our walk around Sugar House Park.

Quick Details:

Length: It’s only about a block long, on one side. so roughly ~760 feet out and back plus whatever wiggling you do.
Trail Type: Out and back.
Difficulty: It’s flat and completely paved. DR2.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: The closest public restroom I can think of is in Sugar House Park. However there are several businesses that likely have one.
Dogs? Public sidewalk rules would apply. So, leashed.
Other Info:

To Get Here:

Take i80 to the 13th east exit. Head north on 13th east to 2100 S. turn left. Go down to Highland Dr. and start looking for parking. The easiest option is the parking garage just south on Highland Dr. in The Vue Building. It costs money, but is free on Sunday or you can get validation if you you plan on eating or shopping. However with the current construction you cant turn left there when heading west right now.

Alternately you can come up 21st from the west, which is what we did today.

Fun Sugar House sign just to the west (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

The site of the long ago demolished Confetti’s (PSP). It was an all ages goth/alternative club. I spent most of my teenage years there, I kind of miss it.

The old Granite Furniture sign (PSP). We’ll come back to this momentarily.

The Adventure:

The old monument. This statue has been here for as long as I can remember. Old Sugar House was my teenage stomping grounds, even though I lived in Sandy at the time. It was the cool place to be for alternative teenagers like myself. There were cool hippy shops, record stores, head shops, a 16+ night club, it had it all. Blue Boutique (an adult lingerie and novelty shop) used to be here, now there are a little further east on 21st south next to Sugar House Park (this move did not happen without controversy) Dancing Cranes (a neat new age international import shop) used to be here, now it is further southwest on 7th east and Simpson Ave. The area is very, very different now, but still cool.

The monument again.

The top has a big light on it, like a lighthouse.

The whole thing.

Information plaque.

A tribute to The Founders of Pioneer Industry, 1930.

Neat symbol in the ground.

Apparently this is now a splash pad! It used to be a road that made it easier to turn right onto Highland Dr.

One of the statues.

It looks like it is a water fountain, but I can’t recall ever seeing it flowing.

Full thing again.

The Jordan and Salt Lake City Canal.

This sign talks about how they tried to build a canal to make it easier to haul granite stones from the Temple Quarry Trail to the downtown Salt Lake Temple. And then about how Parleys Creek went underground just east of here, where it is joined with Emigration Creek and Red Butte Creek until they all release into the Jordan River at the 3 Creeks Confluence.

Fun sewer cap.

The old Granite Furniture Sputnik. Another staple of Sugar House that I am glad the city decided to restore. We walked by to the south just a little while ago doing Parleys Trail, but I wanted to get a closer look today.

It is actually called a roto-sphere. The design was patented by Warren D. Milks in 1961. Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO) installed the original Granite Furniture sign in the 1960’s contracted with Milks to provide one of his roto-spheres for the top. Granite furniture opened here in 2010 and closed this location in 2004.

The sign was refurbished for the Sugar House neighborhood and restored by Steve White of YESCO in 2016. The same guy who restored the Ogden 25th Street Dragon.

Random fish artwork. I think this is to celebrate the creek that is underground below us here. I still just do not understand why our ancestors decided to bury our creeks.

Back to the sign. It used to say Granite Furniture back when they were still in business. The city modified it to be generic to the area.

White was able to find new parts from another Salt Lake City company called Dynapac. White, a neon fanatic was a little remiss to have to replace the old neon bars with LED lights, but that saved 500 pounds, and reduced the energy cost by 80%.

All factoids gathered from this article (outside link) plus some additional info.

The full sign again.

Here is a historical photo from Google Maps to show what it looked like before to refurbish.

Back in 2011, when it still had the original Granite Furniture sign.

Another fish statue.

Sign for the Sugar House Monument Plaza. There were no maps, and the website only provided a map of the local businesses, nothing about any of the historical stuff… so, we explored what I wanted to and didn’t really expand much further.

The plaza again. Like I said this used to be a road.

This is what it looked like in 2014, courtesy of Google Maps again.

Another fun sewer cap.

Fun tree grate.

Planter boxes with what appear to be sugar beats. Not sure if the city planted them, or random citizens, but kind of fun.

Nearing the east end again.

The woman on the monument again.

The monument.

The old Granite Furniture Sputnik again.

This building has been here as long as I can remember. Careful Salt Lake City, it’s over 40 years old, it might need to be torn down.

The Sprague Branch Library. I like the sugar beat statue.

Well, we decided to walk around Sugar House Park. After that we decided to have dinner at Wasatch Brew Pub right here. So we came back because we drove by the monument again and realized there appeared to be additional signs on the street facing side that we did not see yet.

I didn’t want to bring my camera into the restaurant so a couple cell phone photos.

A giant penny for the Lincoln Highway.

The street facing sign of the Sugar House Monument. It is a little close next to the street, but not too bad.

After much hardship and effort machines were brought over from Liverpool and the Sugar Mill was constructed in 1853.

Millard Fillmore Malin
Sculptor
Anderson & Young
Architects
Erected 1930 - Dedicated 1934

The Old Sugar House.

Operated from 1853 - 1855. It was located approximately 200 feet to the east of here (so about where the Barnes and Noble is now). The building was used for other reasons after 1855 until 1928.

You know it’s funny that sometimes it takes multiple historical signs, from various locations for me to fully piece some things together. Today I finally figured out where the old Sugar House actually was. Also, it still kind of blows me away that the thing that this neighborhood is named after, only lasted 2 years. However these signs helped me recognized that a lot of effort went into getting it there so it makes a little more sense now.

There are additional history signs located in nearby Hidden Hollow if you want to check those out. It looks like there is a shortcut to it just south of the Barnes and Noble.

Looking up at the monument.

The statue on the west side.

The plaza again. That Space Needle looking thing appears to be a light.

Monument Plaza sign on the other end.

The monument again.

Little closer to see the art at the top.

Wasatch Brew Pub. With another Space Needle looking lamp post. I am trying to remember what the old restaurant that used to be here. I want to say it was the Blue Bird? Google goes back to 2007 which shows Sugar House Coffee. However I am pretty show it was a café before that.

Highland Dr. Which is completely unrecognizable from what it was 25 years ago.

Here is another shot from Google Maps showing what it looked like back in 2007.

We had our dinner at Wasatch Brew Pub. It was amazing as always.

On the way home we got to see the Granite Furniture Sputnik lit up (PSP).

And again (PSP).

Looking towards Downtown on our way home (PSP).

Well that was fun! Even if we kind of broke it up into 2 parts. I love the history, and I love that the city is saving some of our iconic signs for future generation to enjoy. 9 out of 10 squirrels today.