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1995-09-13
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<head>
<title>Stories: the Haunted Old Mill</title>
<h1>Stories: the Haunted Old Mill</h1>
</head>
<body>
<pre>
<b>Copyright 1994 Brandon Gillespie (the Lynx) <brandon@cc.usu.edu></b>
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 1994
Story-type: Actual Haunted Building
Location: Salt Lake City Utah, U.S.A
Source: News (alt.folklore.ghost-stories) / Submission
</pre>
<hr>
Ever since early highschool I was involved in commercial 'haunted houses'
around Halloween (i.e. professional spook alleys). 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 many around. The first few years I worked in the
Haunted Old Mill, which is an old paper mill dating back to pioneer times. The
setting around the Old Mill is perfect for a creepy building. It is nestled in
the small valley at the mouth of Big Cottonwood canyon. The surrounding area
has an aged and slightly rundown look. Because of the building's odd
nature and ownership it only had the minimal care given to it and everything
is overgrown. Needless to say, it is definitely a place which will give you
the willies, even driving by it in the daytime.
<p>
I'll just cover the Old Mill's history now, and then go into the other
stories in later posts.
<pre>
ASCII Map: .
. - Mountainside '
- ' +--------+ N
| | ^
|Central | .......... |
| |.........Path...
| * |.. ... ..
| |-------------+ ..
` |Building| | ..
\` | | Courtyard | ..
\` | +--+ | ..
\ \` +------| |------------+ ..
\road\` +--+ ::.........
\ \` - - - - - - Fence - - - - - - - -
\ \
Parking Lot
* This is where the room is for the Heart of the
Old Mill is (explained later)
</pre>
The Old Mill has burned down twice. The latest form it has taken is divided
into two major portions, as you can see above. It is several stories tall,
with a basement only beneath the southern half. 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 pad with crumbling walls which nearly look like those of a castle
due to the second story windows which have crumbled and lost their arches.
<p>
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
half 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 in the entrance chamber has
ornate paintings which are faded with age).
<p>
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 by simply walking through the room one can notice a considerable
drop in temperature, and
if you stay in it alone for more than a few minutes, an eerie almost panicked feeling
seeps into you. A
portion of the eastern wall in this room 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.
<p>
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.
<p>
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 when it burned to the ground again. The
official historical sources simply record it as a fire started by
transients, but the folklore recounts a story from the transient who survived,
which was presumably 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. (As a side note I seem to recall that it burned on
or around the same time of year as the first fire.)
<p>
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.
<p>
Actual Stories relating to the building:
<p>
The second year I was working on the haunted house the evening
caretaker shot himself. They lived in an appartment on the northwest corner of
the mill. His wife said he had been torn with indecision 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 in 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 to his head. He looked at his
wife and stated, "lets play Russian Roulette," then stroked the trigger once,
killing himself.
<p>
I'm not sure if the caretakers (whomever they are now) still live in the
building anymore, although I doubt it.
<p>
[more to come...]
<hr>
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