THE GRIST MILL INN, MONTICELLO, UT
By Kelly Flynn
While no one would know from looking at it, the old Monticello flour mill, built in 1933 and converted into a B&B in the 1960’s, is haunted by ghosts. One is an 8-year old boy who was crushed in the elevator while touring the flour mill. There are three other ghosts located there, a woman and two men. We know this only from listening to the EVP that was taken from the location during a cold November night, 2009. Dylan, Kelly and a shadow crew member, Casey, investigated the old mill with the help of video recorders, audio recorders, and a little intuition.
Don’t be fooled by the size and looks from the outside. The Inn is a very comfortable, roomy and dignified place to stay. While it is not running as a B&B presently, it is still set up inside as one and we were fortunate enough to be able to stay the night there, albeit running water. Inside, the Inn still has the inner workings of a flour mill. You can see the old wood work and wheels of a machine in the ceiling of the first floor and in the bottom of the basement. There are also antiques, boxes, sewing machines, furniture and other flour mill parts that lay around different areas of the Inn to signify an era long past. It is a very interesting building as there were many nooks and crannies, along with a maze of rooms to enter that made for an exhilarating night.
The previous owners of the B&B, Glen and Phyllis Swank, had many stories to tell of their own back in 2003. Phyllis said that while baking cookies, she often would hear the patter of a child’s feet come running into the kitchen. A man in overalls was spotted many times standing and staring while Phyllis would be cleaning a room. An old man was often seen sitting on one of the beds. A figure of a woman is seen in a photo of a window taken in 2003, which you can find on this site. The woman was also seen around the Inn at various times and in various areas by the Inn owners. Why the other three ghosts reside here is anyone’s guess. I have researched old newspapers of the area and not been able to find any incidents regarding a death or accident related to the mill.
Throughout the night, we had one video recorder placed in the front meeting area pointed towards the elevator, front door and bottom of the stairs, which leads up to the guest rooms. The second video recorder for the first part of the night was carried around and then for the second half of the night was placed on the second level, pointed towards the top of the stairs, in front of the sewing room, and bottom of the stairs leading to the third level. We had two balls placed in front of the elevator area to see if we could get the child to move them. We did not get anything visual on the video recorders but did get a few evps on them. Both Dylan and I had audio recorders we carried around and there was an audio recorder placed in the library. There were many evps captured, but only a fraction of them good enough to post here.
We had a few experiences. At one point, Casey and I heard tappings coming from the front room while we were standing between the dining area and front room. When we went to investigate we could no longer hear them. I heard the tappings again in the front room later that night with Dylan, but again not being able to pinpoint the cause. Also, around the same time, Dylan saw a shadow move in the room that leads out to the grainery, with no explanation. I had my arm touched at two different times. Once while standing by the front door in front of a desk and the second time while going up the stairs towards the Nelson room. There is also an evp heard during this time which sounds like ‘push her’. I could hear a child speaking throughout the night. While in the Corbin room, on the second floor, I felt something touch the top of my hair which I assumed might have been a bug or spider but while listening to the audio, there is an evp right before that, which makes me reconsider that idea. Late into the night, after Dylan left and Casey and I were sleeping, we heard many noises out in the second floor foyer, lots of rustling, whisperings and bumbling about sounds. I knew my video recorder was out there and figured it would catch anything that went on. It recorded for 7 hours and I have not gone through all of it. Once I do, I will update this with any findings.
The Grist Mill Inn is currently for sale, as of January 2010. Please contact Randy Day, Anasazi Realty in Moab, Utah at 1-888-424-4830 or rday@anasazirealty.com and don’t forget to mention that Kelly Flynn referred you.
