Cottonwood Paper Mill

{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Granite Paper Mill | nrhp_type = | image = Cottonwood Paper Mill 3.jpg | caption = | location = 6900 Big Cottonwood Canyon Rd., [[Salt Lake City, Utah]] | coordinates = {{coord|40|37|37|N|111|47|57|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Utah#USA | built = 1880 | builder = Grow, Henry | added = April 16, 1971 | area = {{convert|2|acre|ha}} | refnum = 71000848<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> }}

[[File:Cottonwood Paper Mill Back.jpg|thumb|Photo of the back of the Mill]] [[File:Cottonwood Mill Sign.jpg|thumb|Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Plaque, located at the base of the Mill's tower]] [[File:Deseret Paper Mill, Mouth of Cottonwood Canon Utah. C.R. Savage, Photo..jpg|thumb|Deseret Paper Mill around 1869]] [[File:Close-up of the scroll on the front of the building.jpg|thumb|Close-up of the scroll on the front of the building]] [[File:Old Mill, October 2017.jpg|alt=Cottonwood Paper Mill, October 2017|thumb|The Old Mill in October 2017]] The '''Cottonwood Paper Mill''' (also known as '''Granite Paper Mill''') is an abandoned stone structure located at the mouth of [[Big Cottonwood Canyon]] in [[Cottonwood Heights, Utah]]. It was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1971.<ref name=nris/><ref name=nrhpdoc>{{cite journal | last = Smith | first = Melvin T. | title = National Register of Historic Places Nomination: Granite Paper Mill | url = {{NRHP url|id=71000848}} | format = PDF | date = December 10, 1970 | publisher = National Park Service}} With {{cite journal | url = {{NRHP url|id=71000848|photos=y}} | format = PDF | title = photo from 1971 | journal = National Register of Historic Places Inventory}}.</ref>

It was built in 1883 by the ''[[Deseret News]]'' under the direction of [[Henry Grow]]. Workers used paper making equipment brought in from the old [[Deseret Manufacturing Company#The full factory|Sugar House Mill]] to grind logs from nearby canyons into [[pulp (paper)|pulp]]. 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|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 attraction (simulated)|haunted house]] and a craft boutique. It was declared a [[List of Registered Historic Places in Utah|historic site]] by the [[Daughters of Utah Pioneers]] in 1966, and was condemned by the city of [[Cottonwood Heights]] in 2005.

==See also== * [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Salt Lake County, Utah]]

==References== {{reflist}} {{Refbegin}} * [http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/deseretnews3,2223181 The Deseret News Company's Paper Mill], ''Deseret News'', October 15, 1884 * [http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/davis1,6907 Burned to the Ground], ''Davis County Clipper'', April 6, 1893 * [http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/deseretnews4,31899 The Paper Mill], ''Deseret News'', April 8, 1893 * [http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/slt18,15045 Paper=Making in Utah], ''Salt Lake Tribune'', August 14, 1898 (Includes sketches of the mill during operation, and in ruins.) * [http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/den5,5876 Making Paper Early Industry], "Raise in Price of Commodity Revives Interest in a Proposition Now Dead", ''Deseret Evening News'', February 1, 1908 * [http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/ogden13,29420 Old Mill Will Become Resort], ''The Ogden Standard Examiner'', May 12, 1927 * [http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/murray,213669 The Daughters of Utah Pioneers Meet at Historic Old Paper Mill], by Sarah Brockbank, ''Murray Eagle'', June 30, 1932 * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053959/http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/collection/murray/id/102905 Cottonwood Stake Gold-Green Ball at Old Mill Club], ''The Murray Eagle'', January 10, 1935 * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231136/http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/collection/murray/id/103530 The Old Mill Club], "The Finest in Entertainment Dancing," ''The Murray Eagle'', June 27, 1935 * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231125/http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/collection/murray/id/103716 Firemen Busy this Week], ''Murray Eagle'', July 11, 1935 – Mention of a fire at the Old Mill Club * [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SLTB&p_theme=sltb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=allfields(Old%20Mill)%20AND%20date(2/1/1992%20to%203/1/1992)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=2/1/1992%20to%203/1/1992)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(%22Old%20Mill%22)Êl_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:DÊl_useweights=no Old Mill Has Weathered Many Hardships Since 1881], Jack Goodman, ''Salt Lake Tribune'', February 23, 1992 (requires logon) * [http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:SLTB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=100E8A14C79617B2&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0FC3641F1BA0984C The Back Pages – Snapshots of Utah History...], Karen Dunlap, ''Salt Lake Tribune'', September 9, 2001 * [http://0-docs.newsbank.com.salty.slcpl.lib.ut.us/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:SLTB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=112911E887B33100&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=104D1A4E245895FD Old Mill Lives On]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}, by Judy Fahys, ''Salt Lake Tribune'', June 29, 2006 (requires logon) * [http://cottonwoodheights.utah.gov/get_involved.cwhhistory.html Cottonwood Heights History] from the city's official website, recounts the history of the mill. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20020209022154/http://deseretnews.com/sesqui/175014037.html Deseret News Timeline], mentions the construction and destruction of the mill * [http://www.dupinternational.org/ragmission.html Rag Mission] article by Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, regarding paper production in Utah. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20040202201113/http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,590039536,00.html Old Clothes turned into paper], article by the ''Deseret News'', discussing the use of the mill * [http://historytogo.utah.gov/facts/faq.html Utah History to Go] article * [http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=18131657 Thieves make away with $20,000 of copper wiring from Old Mill], Alex Cabrero, KSL.com, November 17, 2011 * [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ut0046 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. * [http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/Savage&CISOPTR=1132&CISOBOX=1&REC=9 Photograph, circa 1869] by C.R. Savage, from L. Tom Perry Special History Library {{Refend}}

[[Category:Industrial buildings completed in 1883]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Cottonwood Heights, Utah]] [[Category:Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Utah]] [[Category:Industrial buildings and structures in Utah]] [[Category:Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Utah]] [[Category:Pulp and paper mills in the United States]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Salt Lake County, Utah]] [[Category:Deseret News]] [[Category:1883 establishments in Utah Territory]]