Mansion of Doom

The T B Scott Mansion, built on Holy Cross Hill and an icon for well over a century in Merril, was recently demolished. All that remains is the tower which is scheduled to be restored and turned into a gazebo to be placed on the city’s River Bend Trail. Thomas Blythe Scott was a wealthy lumberman, former State Senator and the first mayor of Merrill. It was said that the mansion was built on the grave of an Indian Princess who was raped by a white man and died in childbirth. Her grieving father, a Shaman or Chief, buried her corpse atop the hill and placed a curse on any white man who would inhabit the hill. T B Scott began construction on his dream home high above the Wisconsin River in 1884. In the next 30 years a string of bad luck and ill fortune fell upon many associated with the property. The Titanic bit is a nice touch.