Cottonwood Paper Mill, Stone industrial building in Cottonwood Heights, Utah.
The Cottonwood Paper Mill is a three-story granite building situated at the entrance to Big Cottonwood Canyon in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. Its thick load-bearing walls and rows of window openings on each floor give it the solid, functional look common to industrial construction of that era.
The mill was built in 1883 by architect Henry Grow for the Deseret News Corporation to produce paper from local timber and recycled textiles. A fire in April 1893 ended its industrial use, after which the building sat unused for decades before being repurposed as a social venue.
After 1927, the building became a dance hall known as the Old Mill Club, drawing people from towns across the region for regular evening events. By the 1940s, it had become a gathering point that many families from the Salt Lake Valley remembered well into old age.
The building was condemned in 2005 and is not open to visitors, with barriers in place to prevent entry. Its position right at the canyon entrance means the exterior can be seen clearly from the roadside without needing to leave your car.
When the fire broke out in April 1893, many residents assumed the alarm was an April Fools' Day joke and ignored it, allowing the flames to spread before anyone responded. It is one of the few recorded cases where a date on the calendar directly affected how a community reacted to a real emergency.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
