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The words "sugar" and "house" have been synonymous with a charming, historic and character-filled neighborhood in Salt Lake City for more than 150 years. But in all that time the community has failed to reach consensus over whether the two words should combine to form Sugarhouse or should remain separate, as in Sugar House. The result has been a good deal of confusion over which spelling to use and a bona fide controversy over which one is correct.

Drive down any of the community's main thoroughfares and you'll see evidence of this lively dispute. Sugarhouse Coffee and Sugarhouse Bread Co. give two points to the one-word squad while the Commons at Sugar House and Sugar House Barbeque Co. bolster the two-word crowd. The Sugar House Park Authority coexists with Sugarhouse Park, and Sugarhouse Antiques does business just the same as Sugar House Furniture. An outsider looking in might suggest that the two spellings can learn to live happily together. But for many community members, that solution just won't suffice.

"I am convinced that the original and official name of the community is two words," said Alice Edvalson, former secretary of the Sugar House Community Council and co-author of 150 Years of History of the LDS Sugar House Ward 1854-2004. She points to the area's origin to justify her position.

In April 1854 the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent out a notice to announce the first meeting of a new ward, or congregation, in the area now known as Sugar House. The notice read, "[The church presidency] have set apart A.O. Smoot as the bishop of that ward, which will hereafter go by the name Sugar House Ward."

The community settled on the name Sugar House at the suggestion of Smoot's wife, Margaret, known affectionately as "Ma Smoot." She had proposed naming the community after the not-yet-completed sugar mill during the organization of the Sugar House Ward on April 23. The mill never did go on to produce the anticipated beet sugar, but the name stuck.

Nearly a century passed without a hint of controversy until, in 1949, D. James Cannon, executive secretary of the Sugar House Chamber of Commerce, and Richard James, editor of a local weekly paper, noticed that local companies had taken to spelling the name in two different ways. They launched a survey to determine which spelling to use, but the results showed the community was fairly evenly split. The men decided to leave the matter up to the U.S. Postal Service, which uses Sugar House.

Edvalson, who spent two years researching and compiling her history book with co-author Charlene Miller, thinks the historical record provides ample evidence that the two-word crowd has the legitimate claim in the Sugarhouse versus Sugar House debate. She and other members of the Sugar House Community Council made it a priority to educate their fellow residents about the "correct" spelling.

"It was a big deal for the Sugar House Community Council because we are the grassroots organization in this little area," said Edvalson. "You know, we like things done right. And for us, [two words] is right."

The council members kept a lighthearted feel to their efforts to ingrain the two-word spelling. "It kind of became a game, a fun thing to do," said Helen Peters, the land use and zoning chair for the council. "At council meetings we would just have fun and say, 'How many words is Sugar House? Two words!' "

But Peters didn't hesitate to get serious about the spelling when a fancy new shopping complex opened in the business district in 1999 with a sign that read "The Commons at Sugarhouse."

"I just called up Armand Johansen [a major Sugar House developer and part-owner of the Commons] and told him Sugar House was two words and to fix the sign," said Peters. "I figure if you're going to make a lot of money off of the community then you might as well spell it right!" According to Peters, Johansen quickly cooperated and exchanged "h" with "H." A similar event occurred in 1957 when the Sugarhouse Park Authority officially became the Sugar House Park Authority.

But disputes over the spelling of the community's name continue and they don't always have a quick, simple resolution. Rachel Funk, owner of Sugarhouse Bread Co., knows this all too well. Funk's bakery opened for business in 2003, and she received an unpleasant shock when her sign elicited comments from several irate community members, including Edvalson.

"They told me I had the incorrect spelling, why it was incorrect and that I had to change it," said Funk. "Someone even told me, 'You're a disgrace to the community.' "

Funk said she simply looked through the phone book to find the correct spelling, but the Yellow Pages don't offer any clarification of the matter. She couldn't believe her bakery's sign could cause such controversy. Nevertheless, she wasn't about to change it.

"We didn't know and it's too late now," she said. She told those with complaints, "Unless you're going to pay for a new sign and for us to reincorporate with the new name, it's staying."

"There are still a lot of signs we need to work on," said Peters. "If we had all the money in the world it would be nice to [launch a public relations campaign] for Sugar House as two words." But until that happens, Peters, Edvalson and others in the community will have to content themselves with spreading the word about the "correct" spelling on a case-by-case basis.