The Cottonwood Paper Mill (also known as Granite Paper Mill) is an abandoned stone structure located at the mouth of

Big Cottonwood Canyon Big Cottonwood Canyon is a canyon in the Wasatch Range southeast of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The -long canyon provides hiking, biking, picnicking, rock-climbing, camping, and fishing in the summer. Its two ski resorts, Brig ...

Cottonwood Heights, Utah Cottonwood Heights is a city located in Salt Lake County, Utah, the United States, along the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley. It lies south of the cities of Holladay and Murray, east of Midvale, and north of Sandy within the Salt Lake City, ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1971. With . It was built in 1883 by the ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

'' under the direction of

Henry Grow Henry Grow, Jr. (October 1, 1817 – November 4, 1891) was a Latter-day Saint ("Mormon") builder and civil engineer in pioneer-era Utah. His most notable achievement was aiding the construction of the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Squar ...

. Workers used paper making equipment brought in from the old Sugar House Paper Mill to grind logs from nearby canyons into

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material * ...

. Rags gathered from old clothes were also used to produce the pulp, which was then placed into molds and dried. During its operation, the mill could yield up to 5 tons of paper per day. The mill provided jobs and paper for nearly ten years.; the railroad increased the demand for cheaper paper manufactured outside the area. In 1892, the Cottonwood Paper Mill was sold to Granite Paper Mills Company. On April 1, 1893, a fire broke out among its indoor stored stockpile of paper. Many hearing the alarm thought it an April Fools' Day prank. All that remained following the fire was a stone skeleton. The structure was partially rebuilt in 1927 for use as an open-air dance hall, known as the Old Mill Club, and remained so until the 1940s. In the late 1960s, rock bands played there on Friday and Saturday nights. It was also used in the 1970s and 1980s as a

haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...

and a craft boutique. It was declared a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

by the

Daughters of the Utah Pioneers The International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers (ISDUP, DUP) is a women's organization dedicated to preserving the history of the original settlers of the geographic area covered by the State of Deseret and Utah Territory, including Mormon pio ...

in 1966, and was condemned by the city of

Cottonwood Heights Cottonwood Heights is a city located in Salt Lake County, Utah, the United States, along the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley. It lies south of the cities of Holladay and Murray, east of Midvale, and north of Sandy within the Salt Lake City, U ...

in 2005.

References

The Deseret News Company's Paper Mill
''Deseret News'', October 15, 1884
Burned to the Ground
''Davis County Clipper'', April 6, 1893
The Paper Mill
''Deseret News'', April 8, 1893
Paper=Making in Utah
''Salt Lake Tribune'', August 14, 1898 (Includes sketches of the mill during operation, and in ruins.)
Making Paper Early Industry
"Raise in Price of Commodity Revives Interest in a Proposition Now Dead", ''Deseret Evening News'', February 1, 1908
Old Mill Will Become Resort
''The Ogden Standard Examiner'', May 12, 1927
The Daughters of Utah Pioneers Meet at Historic Old Paper Mill
by Sarah Brockbank, ''Murray Eagle'', June 30, 1932
Cottonwood Stake Gold-Green Ball at Old Mill Club
''The Murray Eagle'', January 10, 1935
The Old Mill Club
"The Finest in Entertainment Dancing," ''The Murray Eagle'', June 27, 1935
Firemen Busy this Week
''Murray Eagle'', July 11, 1935 – Mention of a fire at the Old Mill Club
Old Mill Has Weathered Many Hardships Since 1881
Jack Goodman, ''Salt Lake Tribune'', February 23, 1992 (requires logon)
The Back Pages – Snapshots of Utah History...
Karen Dunlap, ''Salt Lake Tribune'', September 9, 2001
Old Mill Lives On
by Judy Fahys, ''Salt Lake Tribune'', June 29, 2006 (requires logon)

from the city's official website, recounts the history of the mill.

mentions the construction and destruction of the mill

article by Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, regarding paper production in Utah.

article by the ''Deseret News'', discussing the use of the mill

article
Thieves make away with $20,000 of copper wiring from Old Mill
Alex Cabrero, KSL.com, November 17, 2011
Historic American Buildings Survey
C.W. Barrow, Jr., September 1967. Includes a written description of the mill, its construction, ownership and use, and photographs from that period.
Photograph, circa 1869
by C.R. Savage, from L. Tom Perry Special History Library {{National Register of Historic Places Industrial buildings completed in 1883 Buildings and structures in Cottonwood Heights, Utah Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Utah Industrial buildings and structures in Utah Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Utah Pulp and paper mills in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Salt Lake County, Utah Deseret News 1883 establishments in Utah Territory

See also

References