Advocacy Alerts
Preservation Utah’s Advocacy Alerts focus on moments when action matters.
Alerts are issued when there is an opportunity for public participation in decisions affecting historic places across Utah. While Preservation Utah tracks many at-risk sites through tools like our Most Endangered Buildings and Places List, alerts appear here only when there is an action the public can take—such as attending a hearing, submitting comments, or engaging decision-makers—that could directly influence an outcome for a historic building, district, or cultural resource.
Cottonwood Paper Mill (commonly known as the Old Mill)
1/23/26
6851 S Big Cottonwood Canyon Rd, Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121, USA
History & Architecture
The Cottonwood Paper Mill is closely tied to Utah’s early industrial, cultural, and publishing history.
The Deseret News, the first newspaper in the Mountain West, began publishing in 1850. To support its growing operations and reduce reliance on imported materials, LDS Church leader Brigham Young appointed English papermaker Thomas Howard to establish local paper production. As technology advanced, the Deseret News Company constructed the Cottonwood Paper Mill in 1883 under the direction of Henry Grow, a prominent builder and civil engineer best known for his work on the Salt Lake Tabernacle.
What is Happening
A Conditional Use Permit has been requested to demolish the historic Cottonwood Paper Mill. Because the building is recognized as a historic structure, the request is being reviewed by the Cottonwood Heights Planning Commission, with a subsequent Certificate of Appropriateness review required by the City Council if the application proceeds. The decision under consideration is whether to approve a Conditional Use Permit that would authorize demolition of the historic structure.