Judge Building, Salt Lake City

1909 Postcard of the Judge Building, Salt Lake City.

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The Judge Building, 8 E 300 S SLC, built in 1907 by Mary Judge and designed by the Judge family architect David C. Dart who also designed the Judge Miner's Home, now part of Judge Memorial High School.

Mary and her husband John made their wealth primarily from the Daly-Judge Mine in the Park City Mining District. John died in 1892 and Mary took over business operations and invested in real estate.

She also contributed the establishment of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, YMCA, and All Hallows College.

Judge Building in 1908. Image from USHS.

Judge Building 1939. Image from USHS

Judge Building 2023

The McCune Mansion's Haunted History

The iconic McCune Mansion at 200 N Main St in SLC has a haunted history associated with it.

McCune Mansion on an October evening 2022

McCune Mansion on an October evening 2022

This large home was built in 1901 for railroad/timber/mining mogul Alfred and Elizabeth McCune, after they sent their architect, S.C. Dallas, on a two-year tour of the US and Europe for him to study architectural styles and techniques.

The mansion is outfitted with exotic materials from around the world and has two ballrooms. The roof is made of thick handmade tiles from Holland, originally costing $7K ($247K today), for example. It was the first million-dollar home in Utah.

In 1920 the McCunes gave the home to the LDS church and became the McCune School of Music and Art. Throughout its years it has been a family home, residential rental, music school, dance studio, reception center, art gallery, and office space. In 1999 it was purchased and restored and now serves as an event space and often hosts weddings.

The McCune mansion is often referred to as haunted and there is a myriad of ghost stories associated with it. Most often, the stories include cold spots, oddities with the lights, moving objects, and music coming from a hidden alcove near the central staircase.

McCune 3rd floor ballroom, from mccunemansion.com

McCune 3rd floor ballroom, 2016, from Trip Advisor Barb J

McCune 3rd floor ballroom, 2016, from Trip Advisor Barb J

McCune 3rd floor ballroom, 1985, from HABS file.

The ghost of a girl who dances in the 3rd-floor ballroom has been reported, often enjoying the festivities of various gatherings. The ghost of Elizabeth McCune is said to inhabit the kitchen and often moves bowls, pots/pans, and other kitchen implements. Most stories are of friendly spirits.

Mirrors and paintings seem to be associated with the little girl. An electrician working on the house reported that he saw the girl wearing white emerge from the enormous mirror in the 1st-floor drawing room; she looked around, decided everything was ok, and then went back into the mirror. The electrician never returned to the home.

Music alcove, 1985, from HABS file

Servants’ staircase, 1985, from HABS file

In my research, stories of the McCune Mansion being haunted seem to originate in the 1990s, especially after Philip McCarthy started preservation efforts in 1999.

Sources: 
Haunted Salt Lake City (2018) by Laurie Allen, Cassie Ashton, Kristen Clay, Nannette Watts
Specters in Doorways Revisited (2009) by Linda Dunning

UDSH file

HABS file
ksl.com Dec. 17, 2010
Salt Lake Tribune Nov 15 2001

The story behind the "creepy barber" photograph

 The “creepy barber” photo from my last post stuck with me so I tracked down its story as part of October's Spooky Salt Lake City month. The photo is from the digital archives of the Utah State Historical Society, a direct link to it is here. 

 James Walker, barber and Parley Fullmer.  Mount Pleasant, Utah, 1892. George Edward Anderson Photograph. Image from USHS.

The barber is named James Walker (1831-1899) and when this photo was taken in 1892, he was living in Mount Pleasant, Utah. This image is an advertising photo that was taken in the studio of noted Utah photographer George Edward Anderson (1860-1928) (probably his Manti location).

James Walker was born in England and arrived in SLC in 1855, traveling in a Mormon emigrant wagon train from Kansas across the plains. He lived in SLC for a couple of years and in 1857, after his marriage to his wife Margaret, he traveled to Central Utah (Manti, Mount Pleasant) where he and his wife raised their 12 children.

Of note, his father crossed the plains in a handcart company a year later, in 1856, and was killed by a lightning strike in Nebraska.

James has similar creepy eyes in other photographs of himself, so it seems this is his normal appearance.

James Walker.  Image from FamilySearch courtesy Gerald Shupe.

Margaret and James Walker. Image from FamilySearch courtesy Nathan Coffey.

The other individual with the barber is Parley P. Fullmer (1876-1931) who would have been about 15 when this photograph was taken.

Parley also worked several different jobs in his life but his last one was as a miner for the Utah Galena Corporation mine in the Tintic Mining District (in Utah’s West Desert).

Parley P. Fullmer. Image from Ancestry courtesy Andrew White.

Utah Galena Corporation stock certificate, 1936. Image from eBay.

Parley’s death in 1931 was terribly gruesome and tragic. After the day’s work, Parley and another worker were being hoisted out of the mine, which was described as 755 feet deep.

After being hoisted about 30 feet, the clutch of the elevator engine became disengaged, but the engineer was able to prevent the elevator from falling by holding the brakes while he reengaged the clutch.

Unfortunately, Parley was scared and nervous and started climbing on top of the elevator’s overhead crosshead. When the elevator began moving upward again, Parley became trapped between the elevator and the walls of the shaft. His head was crushed, and his body mangled.

Detail of the mining scene from the Utah Galena Corporation stock certificate, 1936. Image from eBay.

Sources:
Church History Biographical Database
FamilySearch
Eureka Reporter April 9, 1931
Eureka Reporter July 23, 1931
Western Mineral Survey April 12, 1929

Kennecott advertisement from 1969

Check out this Kennecott advertisement from the 1969 Polk Directory.

Note that this is before I-80 was constructed on the west side of SLC.

And before the construction of that massive Kennecott tailings pond that is now just off of Utah Route 201 (2100 South).

At the time (and for quite a while) the Bingham Canyon Mine was the largest man-made open pit mine on the planet.