What's in a name? The wrong geographical references plague two Davis County cities -- North Salt Lake and South Weber -- because their names imply they're located in nearby counties.
Say North Salt Lake and you usually conjure up images of the north end of Salt Lake County, not this Davis County community of about 9,000 people.Requires Adobe Acrobat.Mention South Weber (population about 4,000) and the obvious location envisioned is Weber County, not Davis.
South Weber City Manager Ron Chandler said the city only has occasional geographical confusion because of the "Weber" in the town's name.
"Most people we deal with know we're in Davis," he said.
But Chandler said city officials have had to call in corrections to media sources who say the city is in Weber County.
As far as he's aware, there's been no consideration for any name change in recent years. City officials are satisfied with the name that makes reference to the town being on the south side of the Weber River -- the dividing line for Davis and Weber counties in that area.
South Weber was settled in 1851, likely before a Davis vs. Weber county location became an issue.
North Salt Lake Mayor James W. Dixon said there is periodic confusion about his city's location.
"Even the media gets confused sometimes," he said, joking that once in a while if something bad happens in North Salt Lake, then it's actually nice when some one confuses the city's location.
He said the city has been incorporated for 53 years and took its name from an old railroad crossing sign that said North Salt Lake. "Our name came by default," Dixon said.
About 20 years ago there was a petition and vote taken about changing the city's name to avoid confusion, but it was soundly defeated.
Dixon said every year at least one person approaches him about changing the city's name. Basically, some residents would like the name changed, he said, but businesses seem to think the current name is great.
"It works both ways," he said.
Lt. Dan Horton of the Davis County Sheriff's Office said there's no confusion in law enforcement because of the two Davis County cities' misleading names.
Horton said the only confusion usually comes from residents who are newcomers to the area and who are surprised to learn the two cities are not part of the counties whose names they bear.