Haunted Salt Lake City

Laurie Allen, Cassie Ashton, Kristen Lynne Clay, Nannette Watts

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781467138246
• eBook ISBN: 9781439665237
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

"Haunted mansions, phantom nuns and a poltergeist wedding crasher . . . The book's pages are filled with accounts of ghostly sightings." — Deseret News
Uncovering ghost stories in Salt Lake City leads to a spooky mixture of legend, lore and local history. A young female apparition likes to surprise guests of the McCune Mansion by leaping from a mirror. Believed to be stationed at Fort Douglas, a Civil War vet named Clem still teases female visitors. Staff at the historic Devereaux Mansion, once a major social center, relented in their vain nightly attempts to keep the lights off and let the spirits continue their eternal party. And nuns of the Sisters of the Holy Cross still visit patients in the hospital they established. The guides of Story Tours' Salt Lake City Ghost Tour reveal characters who just can't seem to leave the valley.

CHAPTER 1

THE ALTA CLUB

100 East South Temple

BY CASSIE ASHTON

Salt Lake City’s Grand Boulevard,” once known as Brigham Street and now known as South Temple, was the street where governors, senators, silver kings and a queen, religious leaders, financiers and the business elite built their homes. In the early days of Utah, the vast majority of Utah’s wealth resided along this most opulent thoroughfare. At the head of this east–west boulevard stands the Alta Club.

The Alta Club, originally open to men only, was first established in 1883. There is a bit of a debate as to how its name was derived. Some say it came as a way to honor those who struck it rich from silver mining up Little Cottonwood Canyon in Alta, Utah. Others say that name came from its first home in the Alta Block of Salt Lake City. Either way, the name has lasted.

The first home for the Alta Club was in the old Alta Block, located at 21 West 200 South in downtown Salt Lake. In 1892, it moved down the street to 109 West 200 South in the Dooly Building, where it occupied the top two floors. In 1897, a lot was purchased by the club members around the corner from the Dooly Building to construct a permanent building. It took a year to build, and on June 1, 1898, they moved into the home they have been in for over one hundred years. It was designed by Fredrick Albert Hale in an Italian Renaissance design. It was built by George Cushing and is in the National Register of Historic Places.

In the early days, the members were primarily the elite in the mining and smelting industry who struck it rich mining in Utah and then went on to run newspapers and large businesses and become bankers or politicians.

Present-day Alta Club. Nannette Watts.

Brigham Street, Salt Lake’s Grand Boulevard, South Temple, 1908. The Alta Club is on the southeast corner where the street intersects. Marriott Library.

Alta Club, 1905. Marriott Library.

The club was created not for those who came out west to be with the Saints but for those who came out to get rich and still wanted to enjoy what the Saints did not: drinking, smoking and gambling. It was and still is a private club, for members only. In the beginning, it was primarily a non-Mormon club. Eventually, the membership would expand to allow a huge diversity of leaders, and they would all learn to find ways to cooperate and appreciate their differences. Those differences ranged from religious to political to the unseen. One thing you can be sure of is the Alta Club staff are very protective of their members and their secrets, including their ghosts. Sometimes the best way to gather information is to talk to those indirectly connected to the old historic building.

LILAC GHOSTS

A ball went flying through the air, followed by a distinctive crash. Jed and Adam looked at each other and then at the mug lying beside their ball on the living room floor. Should they run?

“Boys, what are you two doing?” their mom called. Their mother’s voice and quick appearance in the living room doorway made the decision for them.

“How many times have I told you two not to play ball in the house?” she asked.

The two boys looked at the floor, avoiding their mother’s eyes.

“You are lucky that this mug is not broken into pieces,” their mom said, “or your dad would have killed you both. This was your great-uncle Pete’s Alta Club mug. I don’t really need your father to be angry or want my boys to join the ghosts of the Alta Club.”

“Mom, did you say there are ghosts at the Alta Club?” young Jed asked, thankful for a way to change the subject. “Are there really?”

“Yes. Well, at least according to Uncle Pete,” his mom replied.

“What happens?” Jed wanted to know. “Who are they? Can we go see them?”

“Slow down, my little ghostbusters,” their mom said. “Why don’t you hold all those questions for your dad? He is the one who heard about all the goings-on and activities at the club.”

“Mom, just tell us,” Jed begged.

“Wait ’til your dad comes home,” their mom insisted.

The boys were so excited for their dad to get home. Almost as soon as he walked through the door, they began badgering him with questions about the ghosts at the Alta Club.

A little confused, he held up his hands in self-defense.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he exclaimed. “Where did all this come from?”

“We were playing ball in the house, and Adam knocked over your Alta Club mug. Mom got mad and said if we broke it you would kill us and we would be ghosts at the club,” Jed answered.

Their dad began to laugh.

“Well, I may not have killed you,” he chuckled, “but I would have been pretty disappointed. Your great-uncle Pete gave that to me, and it holds some good memories—all the stories he told and laughs we shared.”

“Yea, yea, but what about the ghosts?” Jed wanted to know.

“Calm down, son,” their dad said. “We will get there. Sit down and I will tell you all about your great-uncle Pete and the ‘Boy Scouts’ of the Alta Club and, of course, about the ghosts.”

“There were Boy Scouts at the Alta Club?” Adam asked, looking puzzled.

“No, no. Not like you boys are Scouts,” said his dad. “You see, in the mid-1930s, your great-uncle Pete was a young successful businessman, and a group of men about his age were encouraged to join the Alta Club by the older members. It was in an effort to bring some new, young blood into the club. The younger men were soon being referred to as the ‘Boy Scouts,’ probably because of their comparative youthfulness and partially because they could be a bit loud and rambunctious. Uncle Pete told me that the Boy Scouts gathered regularly at the club for lunch. The manager offered them a bit of privacy by assigning them to a room known as the ‘Bird Cage,’ a smaller dining room at the end of the main dining room that had Chinese bird decorations in the wallpaper. Though they were separated from the main dining hall, the complaints about their loudness caused the manager to move the Boy Scouts to a card room adjoining the bar on the lower level. There, they could order sandwiches, relax and make a bit of noise without annoying the club elders. The funny thing is it wasn’t long before the elders noticed the arrangement. They liked it and started joining the younger men. That is how the Grill Room was started. Uncle Pete kind of boasted that the Grill Room was created by the Boy Scouts.”

“Cool, Dad,” Adam said. “Uncle Pete was an Alta Club Boy Scout, but what about the ghosts?”

“Okay, okay, I’m getting there,” replied his dad, “but first I wanted you to get a picture of what it was like back then.

“The first story I remember Uncle Pete telling me was in the early days of the club. He said that there were always jokes throughout Salt Lake about it being an ‘old man’s club’ and how they would discover bodies around the premises. He always thought they were just joking about the old guys being so stiff and quiet, but that wasn’t the case. Uncle Pete soon discovered a rumor that a prominent citizen had gone missing, and after a weeklong search, the police finally reported the man had been found dead in his favorite leather chair in the Alta Club. Pete said he never knew how true the story was because nobody talked about it. He did admit that whenever he was in the library, it always felt a bit creepy, and occasionally, one of the wicker rocking chairs would rock all by itself.”

“Do you think the dead guy hangs out at the library?” Jed asked.

“Maybe,” his father replied. “It makes sense to me. The other story I remember Uncle Pete told me about happened years later. Sometime in the 1950s, the club had a fire. At the time, there were rooms upstairs that some of the members could stay in for a night or two.

Alta Club’s leather reading chairs. Marriott Library.

“One night after a long night of work, an exhausted club member retired to his room and was winding down by enjoying an expensive cigar. I guess he did not realize how tired he was, and he fell asleep with the cigar in his hand. The cigar fell to the ground, and the rug caught on fire. His room was quickly engulfed in flames. Everyone else was able to escape the fire except for him. They say that he still walks the upper floors checking the rooms to make sure that no one else falls asleep smoking.”

“Did Uncle Pete ever say who he was?” Adam asked.

“No,” his dad replied. “Like you, I was curious. But when I asked Uncle Pete, all he would say was, ‘He paid the price of his carelessness with his life. Let’s let him rest in peace.’

“I actually tried to learn a little more about the fire. Although I searched and searched, I could find no record of it in the newspaper or the Alta Club histories. Club members guard their secrets well.”

“Does anything else happen?” Adam asked.

“Not much,” his dad replied. “I have heard that sometimes members will feel someone touch them on their shoulders. They turn, but no one is there. It doesn’t seem to bother anyone; they shrug and figure it is just a deceased member letting them know they are still hanging out around the club. There is also the sound of footsteps pacing back and forth on the third floor. Even though smoking is no longer allowed in the rooms, the cigar-smoking ghost is taking no chances.”

“That’s creepy,” Jed said. “Have you ever been to the Alta Club?”

“Yes, Uncle Pete took me in a couple of times when he had to stop in and pick something up,” their dad said. “I’ve only been in the lobby. It’s very beautiful—elegant with rich wood and big leather chairs.”

“Did you see the ghost or feel a ghost?” Adam asked.

“No, but it did seem to smell like lilac,” their dad responded. “I thought that was strange because even though there are women who are members now, it is still a traditional gentleman’s club, not a place you expect to smell lilac flowers. But ghost lore says that when you smell lilac and lavender in a building, there is probably a ghost nearby.”

“Dad, can you take us someday, and maybe we can see or smell the ghost?” the boys asked.

“Well, boys,” their dad said, “I never became a member. I’d rather spend my nights here with you. When you boys get a bit older and learn how to behave a little bit better, I am sure I can find one of Pete’s sons who might let us be his guests. Then maybe you will get to meet a ghost, maybe even Uncle Pete—you know, hanging out having lunch in the Grill Room.”

CHAPTER 2

THE ANDRUS HALF WAY HOUSE

This Is the Place Heritage Park, corner of Brigham and Main Streets

BY NANNETTE WATTS

Salt Lake City was in the heart of the Wild West. Famous cowboys and outlaws roamed these parts. Traveling by horse or wagon took longer for travelers. People stayed at family-owned inns. Some inns were only twelve miles apart.

There is a marker at 10450 South State Street in Sandy, called Neff ’s Grove, that reads:

“Half Way House”
Only a few yards from this monument to the Northwest, stood the Milo Andrus “Half Way House,” a comfortable and convenient, two-story pioneer inn. The inn was one of several built along State Street in the 1850–80 period to care for the many south and northbound travelers.

The Andrus Inn became known as the “Half Way House” because it was located midway between “Traveler’s Rest” at 6400 South State and Porter Rockwell’s est...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword, by Martin Tanner
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. The Alta Club, by Cassie Ashton
• 2. The Andrus Half Way House, by Nannette Watts
• 3. City and County Building, by Cassie Ashton
• 4. Denver Rio Grande Depot, by Kristen Clay
• 5. Devereaux Mansion, by Laurie Allen
• 6. Fort Douglas, by Kristen Clay
• 7. Inn on the Hill: Woodruff Mansion, by Nannette Watts
• 8. The Kissing Tree, by Cassie Ashton
• 9. Masonic Temple, by Nannette Watts
• 10. McCune Mansion, by Cassie Ashton
• 11. Salt Lake City Cemetery, by Kristen Clay
• 12. Sisters of the Holy Cross Hospital, by Nannette Watts
• 13. Whiskey Street Cocktails and Dining, by Kristen Clay
• Bibliography
• About the Authors