The Grist Mill Inn – Monticello
The Grist Mill Inn is located about 280 miles south of Salt Lake City in Monticello, Utah, just off Utah’s legendary highway 666. The inn is owned by Glen and Phyllis Swank.
The original building was built in 1933 and was a working mill called the Monticello Flour Mill. In its time, the mill produced nearly all of the flour that was sold by the U.S. government to the Navajo nation. The mill was closed down after an unfortunate accident cost a young Boy Scout his life while he was touring the mill with his Scout pack. The 1963 accident polarized the town of Monticello, pitted neighbor against neighbor, and eventually led to the closure of the mill.
In 1985, the mill was turned into a bed and breakfast with a beautiful old-fashioned country appeal.
Its seven bedrooms are each designed to make you feel like you have taken a trip back in time. The mill has retained the look of a working flour mill, and guests wake in the morning to a gourmet breakfast. While staying at the inn, a guest might encounter one of the many ghosts who still call the Grist Mill Inn home.
In the mill’s breakfast room, guests will often see the specter of an old man in coveralls walking between the bagging machine and back door.
In the inn’s lobby, people have reported seeing the ghost of a young boy (thought to be the ghost of the Scout) playing ball near the elevator where he was killed. The small ghost likes peeking around corners at visitors and hiding in the stairways. He also appears in the kitchen area whenever chocolate chip cookies are being baked.
In the Corbin Room, there is a dark, even frightening, presence. Guests report a “dark” man wearing work clothes and boots who looms over the bed of guests, walks in and out of the room, and occasionally slams the bedroom door.
In the Nielson Room, people often find an old man sitting on the bed, staring out the window. The bedspread is often messed up as though someone had been sitting on the bed. The inn’s co-owner, Phyllis, said that she frequently had to go up to the Nielson Room several times a day and straighten the bedspread. Phyllis says that she’s learned to just leave it be. She said, “There’s no sense smoothing it out just to walk past the room 10 minutes later and it’s messed up again!”
On October 25, 2003, the Utah Ghost Hunters’ Society (UGHS) investigated the Grist Mill Inn and during the investigation, we recorded an astonishing amount of electronic voice phenomena (EVP). But the most remarkable evidence collected during the investigation was this photograph taken by UGHS researcher Kelly Flynn of an upstairs bedroom window. The photograph shows what appears to be a ghost starring back at her through the window.
Written by — Chris Peterson President, Utah Ghost Hunters’ Society
THE GRIST MILL INN
300 EAST 100 SOUTH
MONTICELLO, UTAH 84535
TEL: 1 (435) 587-2597
Website: www.thegristmillinn.com
SEE ALSO:
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of Haunted Places -Ghostly Locales from around the World – Compiled & Edited by Jeff Belanger – Copyright 2005 by Jeff Belanger