In the middle to late 1800's when the Northwestern Lumber Company started logging it off, the Gilman area was a vast area of wooded lands. There were several Indian tribes in the area including the Chippewa, Menominee, Huron, and the Kickapoo. Most migrated up the Yellow River and its tributaries. Prior to the arrival of the railroad in the early 1900's, most of the people in the area were loggers living in many logging camps.
Gilman was named after Sallie Gilman, wife of Delos R. Moon, President of the Northwestern Lumber Company. In the original plot of the village of Gilman, the streets were named after their children.
In 1902 the SM&P (Stanley, Merrill, and Philips) railroad came to Polley and Gilman. The following year, 1903, the line extended to Hannibal and Jump River. A spur also went to Lublin. In 1902, The Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, and Northeastern Railroad came through Donald and Hannibal ending at the Yellow River. The line later became the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha Railroad. More commonly called the "Omaha". Both of these lines were abandoned in later years.
In 1905, construction crews came through Lublin, Polley, Gilman, and Donald laying track for the Wisconsin Central Railroad. The first trains ran in 1906. The line was eventually taken over by the Soo Line and was operated as such until selling to the Wisconsin Central Ltd. in 1987. In 2001, the Canadian National bought the Wisconsin Central Ltd. and now use this as their main line to Chicago and on to New Orleans.
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