Believe it or not: 10 haunted places in Salt Lake City

Published: Monday, Oct. 28 2013 11:10 a.m. MDT

Alfred W. McCune Mansion, Aug., 1913.


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When it comes to tales of paranormal activity, Salt Lake City is not an exception to hauntings. From the University of Utah to the Rio Grande Train Depot, people have reported hearing, feeling and seeing ghosts in several locations across the city.

Believe it or not, here is a list of 10 locations where paranormal activity is frequently reported.

1. Rio Grande Train Depot, 300 S. Rio Grande St.

Currently the home of the Utah State Historical Society, people began to notice the hauntings in 1940. The Rio Grande Train Depot was constructed in 1910 by The Rio Grande Western Railroad, and was in operation from 1910-1947, as reported by Haunted Houses.

The most popular apparition is known as "The Purple Lady." One story says the woman met her fiancé at the train station as he was leaving for either World War I or World War II. The two got into an argument and called off the engagement. The man took the engagement ring and threw it into the train tracks. When the woman went to retrieve it, she was struck and killed by a train.

She's most often seen near the north side of the depot around the cafe. The Utah Historical Society had the following account of the purple lady from one of their employees: Christine Gustin, a secretary for the society in 1992, said that a woman named Heidi went into the women's restroom and was overcome by an "angry, vicious feeling she couldn't understand."

"She turned to see a black-haired woman wearing a long, purple sequined dress and sitting on the couch. She ran out of the bathroom," Gustin said.

According to the society, the depot has another ghost said to haunt the building, known as the tunnel ghost. The ghost is of a man who was killed during construction of a tunnel between the train depot and the power plant next door.

Continue reading: "Believe it or not: 10 haunted places in Salt Lake City."

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