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From netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!cs.utexas.edu!news.cs.utah.edu!cc.usu.edu!brandon Fri Sep 2 13:53:40 1994 Xref: netcom.com alt.folklore.ghost-stories:6673 Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!cs.utexas.edu!news.cs.utah.edu!cc.usu.edu!brandon From: brandon@cc.usu.edu (Brandon Gillespie) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.ghost-stories Subject: The Haunted Old Mill (Cottonwood Heights, Utah) Message-ID: <1994Aug31.143707.26073@cc.usu.edu> Date: 31 Aug 94 14:37:07 MDT Organization: Micro Computer Services, USU Lines: 126 I have always been a fan of haunts and creeps and all the like, therefore over my years I have gathered a bunch of ghost stories. Stumbling across this group I blew the dust out of the corner of my mind they were stored in, and I will do my best to recount them... As I said before, I have always been a fan of haunts etc. Ever since early highschool I was involved in 'haunted' houses around Halloween. I do not know how popular they are in other area's, but in Salt Lake city they are quite a large production, and there are quite a few around. The first few years I worked in the Haunted Old Mill, which is an old paper mill dating back to pioneer times, located at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. The setting around the Old Mill is perfect, an aged slightly decrepit surrounding dropped down into a small valley carved out by the canyon river. It has the right mix of ancient tree's and dead undergrowth. Because of the building's odd nature it never has had too much care given too it, just the minimal. Needless to say, it is definitely a place which gives you the willies, even driving by it in the daytime. I'll just cover the Old Mill's history now, and then go into more personal stories in later posts. ASCII Map: . . - Mountainside ' - ' +--------+ | | |Central | .......... | |.........Path... | * |.. ... .. | |-------------+ .. ` |Building| | .. \` | | Courtyard | .. \` | +--+ | .. \ \` +------| |------------+ .. \road\` +--+ ::......... \ \` - - - - - - Fence - - - - - - - - \ \ Parking Lot * This is where the room is for the Heart of the Old Mill is (explained later) It has been burned down a few times, being rebuilt again. It's latest form is broken into two major portions, as you can see above. It is several stories tall, with the main floor being a much taller than normal height. The Courtyard was at one point part of the main building, but was not ever rebuilt in the last fire, and is now a cement courtyard with crumbling walls which make it look almost like a castle wall due to the window holes which have lost their arches. The Central building is broken into 2 major portions, with the south end being a large open room with a tall balcony. Both the main floor and the balcony have locked doors to the tower which was condemned years ago. The northern end is more economical, broken into 3 stories. The central section of the northern end is divided by a stone wall. It has massive fireplaces on each floor, but is only two stories as where the middle one would be, it is an open space to the large entrance chamber below (the ceiling is ornately painted, but they are hard to see due to age). The 3rd story of this section is considered the heart of the Old Mill, where most of the ghosts are supposed to reside. From personal experience I can say that simply walking through the room the temperature is noticeably colder, and if you stay in it for more than a few minutes your skin begins to crawl. On the wall facing the outside the rock is unusual. Rather than the normal large bricks, which are approximately 1-2 feet thick, it is mottled and covered with twisted cement and other stones leaving a jagged surface. In the evening when the sun is setting and the shadows are long you can watch this wall, and you will begin to see movement which cannot be pinpointed. Sometimes you can even make out forms of some type. I have forgotten the exact date the Old Mill was built (I did some research on it, at one point), but it was back in the 1800's. It served for quite a few years as a productive paper Mill. Then, one winter's night, it burned to the ground. The official historical entries I could find simply said some oily rags caught fire from a lantern. However, one of the folklore stories relates a conflict between two of the evening caretakers. They were up in the central room to the Old Mill having an argument. One of the two struck the other, who hit the table knocking the oil lamp the the floor. The second caretaker's dog began barking at the first one, as the fire ran out of control he fled. The second caretaker and his dog never survived the fire, although their burnt bodies were found in the fireplace (presumably to escape the flames). More than one person working in the Old Mill at night has heard a faint barking which couldn't be tracked down. The Mill stayed that way for a few years, until just after the turn of the century when it was rebuilt to be a dance hall. It had a bit of activity through the twenties and thirties, but when World War II hit it shut down. For years it stayed empty, until one night it burned to the ground again. The official historical sources once again simply record it as a fire started by transients, but the folklore recounts a story from the transient who survived, which was ignored by the officials. He said they had started a fire in the fireplace up in the 3rd story room (the Heart), to keep themselves warm. Early in the morning he woke up hearing a barking and what sounded like yelling. He looked around himself confused, as it was much too loud to be outside but he didn't think anybody else was in the building. That was when he saw the fire run across the floor. He insisted it did not start from their own fire, but needless to say it engulfed the room and destroyed the building again. The transient that did not escape was found curled in the fireplace. One version of the story says there was also the remains of a dog, even though the two transients did not have one. When it was rebuilt the last time only the western section was finished. Since then it has had many roles, from that of a disco in the 70's to what it is now. The building even is riddled with catacombs below, which were at one time used to channel water around. To end, the second year I was working on the haunted house the evening caretaker committed suicide in front of his wife. They lived in the northwest corner. His wife said he had been torn for a few months, as a part of the north east corner on the courtyard was very unstable, and he was afraid it would crumble and fall on somebody with the upcoming haunted house. They had both known the Mill was haunted, and he told her he felt the Old Mill didn't want the portion of the wall destroyed. But one day he made his decision. He left their living quarters almost as if he was upset. She heard the tractor start and drive around the building, then it idled for a few minutes. Before she was about to go check on her husband he suddenly appeared in the apartment and made a beeline for the cabinet housing his weapons. He withdrew a revolver, filled all the chambers and pointed it at his head. He looked at his wife and stated, "lets play russian roulette," then stroked the trigger once, killing himself. I'm not sure if the caretakers still live in the building anymore, although I doubt it. -- /\ Brandon Gillespie me /\ () An Interactive RFC Index: http://www.usu.edu/~brandon/RFC/ () \/ "Luke, at that speed do you think you'll be able to pull out in time?" \/