The Old Mill
6900 Big Cottonwood Canyon Road, Cottonwood Heights 84121
Salt Lake
1880/1927
Details
National Register?
Yes, 1971
Architect
Henry Grow
Year Built
1880/1927
Accessible?
No, property is fenced off, but visually accessible from Big Cottonwood Canyon Rd.
Current Threats
The Cottonwood Paper Mill is under immediate threat of demolition. In May 2024, the property owners—Walker Development Company, which has owned the site since approximately 1987—submitted a Variance Application (AHO-24-005) to Cottonwood Heights City requesting permission to bypass the standard planning commission process and demolish the historic structure without obtaining a conditional use permit. This would have allowed them to avoid the required one-year waiting period typically applied to conditional use approvals.
Although the Appeals Hearing Officer denied the variance in November 2024, this decision only delays demolition; it does not stop the owners from pursuing the removal of the mill as part of a broader redevelopment strategy.
Since June 2024, the owners have actively advanced a development plan for the approximately 30-acre site, titled "Papermill Village at the Old Mill." Conceptual plans have been introduced to both the Cottonwood Heights Planning Commission and City Council, and two neighborhood design workshops were held in July and August to present the proposed redevelopment. However, no official PDD (Planned Development District) application has yet been submitted.
Despite the site's historic significance, the development team has made it clear they intend to move forward. The current trajectory strongly suggests that demolition of the mill remains central to their plans, posing an existential threat to one of Utah’s few surviving 19th-century industrial landmarks.
History
The Deseret News, the first newspaper in the Mountain West, began publishing in June 1850. LDS Church leader Brigham Young appointed English paper maker Thomas Howard to build a local paper mill in Sugar House to support its growing operations and reduce paper costs. Over time, machinery upgrades became necessary, and in 1883, under the direction of Henry Grow, a notable Latter-day Saint builder and civil engineer, the Deseret News Company constructed the Cottonwood Paper Mill to house older equipment as backup while incorporating new technology at their main site.
The mill operated for nearly a decade, producing paper and providing local employment. However, after the transcontinental railroad's completion, cheaper paper from outside the region flooded the market. In 1892, the Deseret News sold the mill to Granite Mills Paper Company. Just a year later, on April 1, 1893, a fire destroyed the interior. Many mistook the alarm for an April Fools’ joke. Only the stone walls remained.
The building sat abandoned until 1927, when J.B. Walker revived it as the Old Mill Club—an open-air dance hall. Though the club closed during World War II and never fully recovered, the site continued to serve the community in creative ways. In the 1960s, it hosted local rock bands, and during the 1970s and ’80s, it operated as a haunted house and craft boutique.
Recognized for its historical and architectural importance, the Cottonwood Paper Mill was declared a historic site by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers in 1966 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. Although condemned by Cottonwood Heights in 2005 due to seismic code concerns, it remains a powerful symbol of early Utah industry and cultural resilience.
The mill is significant not only for its role in local industry and communications, as cited in its national register nomination, but also for its design by Henry Grow, renowned for his work on the Salt Lake Tabernacle. Its construction reflected the LDS Church’s commitment to self-reliance, record keeping, and publication. Architecturally distinctive and deeply tied to the identity of Cottonwood Heights, the Cottonwood Paper Mill endures as a rare example of early industrial ambition, community spirit, and adaptive reuse.
What can be done?
By signing the Change.org petition, individuals will receive updates on the proposed development, including upcoming Cottonwood Heights City meetings where the project will be discussed.