Sugar City is a city in Madison County,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

, United States. The population was 1,715 at the 2020 census, up from 1,514 in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. It is part of the

Rexburg Rexburg is a city in Madison County, Idaho, United States. The population was 39,409 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Madison County and its largest city. Rexburg is the principal city of the Rexburg, ID Micropolitan Statist ...

Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Sugar City was a

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

for the Fremont County Sugar Company, which was part of the

Utah-Idaho Sugar Company The Utah-Idaho Sugar Company was a large sugar beet processing company based in Utah. It was owned and controlled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and its leaders. It was notable for developing a valuable cash crop a ...

, supporting a

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...

processing factory built in 1903–1904. Since it was created to support the factory, construction workers and early factory families were housed in tents, leading to the nickname "Rag Town". By 1904, the town consisted of 35 houses, two stores, a hotel, an opera house, several boarding houses, two lumber yards, a meat market, and a schoolhouse. The first

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

ward was the Sugar City Ward, with

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Mark Austin. One of his counselors was James Malone, a construction engineer for

E. H. Dyer Ebenezer Herrick Dyer (April 17, 1822 – 1906) was an American businessman who established the first successful commercial beet sugar mill in the U.S., and as such, was called the "father of the American beet sugar industry". Dyer was born in ...

, who was not a Mormon. In early years the factory had a labor shortage, leading to a local community of ''Nikkei''—

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese migrants and their descendants. The city was flooded by the waters of the

Teton Dam The Teton Dam was an earthen dam in the western United States, on the Teton River in eastern Idaho. It was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, one of eight federal agencies authorized to construct dams.Perrow, Charles. ''Normal Accidents ...

collapse on June 5, 1976.

Geography

Sugar City is located in northern Madison County at (43.872317, -111.747331), at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

runs along the western edge of the city, leading southwest to

and northeast to St. Anthony.

Idaho State Highway 33 State Highway 33 (SH-33) is a state highway in eastern Idaho, spanning from U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) and US 26 to Wyoming Highway 22 (WYO 22) at the state line. Route description SH-33 begins at an intersection with ...

runs through the center of Sugar City, leading southwest to the center of Rexburg and east the same distance to Teton. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.50%, are water.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

there are 2,616 people, 419 households, and 373 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was . There were 434 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 91.3%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.1%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.3%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 6.7% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.2% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 10.9% of the population. There were 419 households, of which 52.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 11.0% were non-families. 10.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.61 and the average family size was 3.87. The median age in the city was 24.8 years. 39.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22% were from 25 to 44; 18.7% were from 45 to 64; and 9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.4% male and 51.6% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 1,242 people, 326 households, and 292 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 336 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.83%

, 0.16%

, 0.16% Native American, 0.81%

, 4.51% from

, and 1.53% from two or more races.

of any race were 8.29% of the population. There were 326 households, out of which 57.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 80.7% were

living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 10.4% were non-families. 8.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.81 and the average family size was 4.08. In the city, the population was spread out, with 40.6% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 22.3% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 6.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $45,500, and the median income for a family was $46,333. Males had a median income of $30,139 versus $22,917 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $12,737. About 6.1% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 10.5% of those under age 18 and 2.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Sugar-Salem High School is a small

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in the town of Sugar City and is part of the Sugar-Salem School District. The district takes in students from the surrounding area, from the community referred to locally as Plano on the west to beyond the town of Newdale on the east. On the north it borders Fremont County, following the Henry's fork of the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

, and on the south it borders with Madison School District and the city of

Notable people

Harold G. Hillam Harold Gordon Hillam (September 1, 1934 – March 27, 2012) was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1990 until his death. Hillam was the fifteenth general president of the LDS Church's Sunday ...

, Emeritus General Authority of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

; former member of the

Presidency of the Seventy A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...

* Thomas C. Neibaur, first Mormon

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipient and first born in Idaho *

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (born July 11, 1938) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian specializing in early America and the history of women, and a professor at Harvard University. Her approach to history has been described as a tribute to ...

, Pulitzer-prize winning author of ''A Midwife's Tale''

References

External links

*
Rexburg Area Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Cities in Madison County, Idaho Cities in Idaho Rexburg, Idaho micropolitan area Company towns in Idaho Populated places established in 1903 1903 establishments in Idaho