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–Not graded
History · Gilman

Gilman’s post office opened in 1908, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1920.

1908first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Gilman’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Gilman began

When was Gilman founded?

1908

The Gilman post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 522 in 19202020 census: 378118 years
Founding year: the first Gilman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Gilman’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gilman’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gilman’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewPolley Lane Bridge, Spanning Yellow Riv…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Gilman came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gilman.

Read it all →

Before logging and settlers, the land around Gilman was covered with a mosaic of forest and swamps, drained by the Yellow River. Native Americans travelled along the river, at times portaging over to the Big Rib River to reach the Wisconsin River valley. By 1800, the area around Gilman was dominated by Ojibwe people, but Dakota, Ho-Chunk and Menominee were not far away. In 1837 the U.S. forced the Ojibwe to cede much of northern Wisconsin, including the area that would become Gilman, in the White Pine Treaty. Government surveyors came through in 1847 and again in 1854, marking section lines and assessing timber and mill sites.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Gilman, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Polley Lane Bridge, Spanning Yellow River at Polly LaneDate?Polley Lane Bridge, Spanning Yellow River at Polly La…
Today2 recent
Yellow River in2026Yellow River inGilman Municipal Building2015Gilman Municipal Building
On the map

Gilman on the map, 1951 to 1973

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gilman. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Gilman on the 1951 USGS mapGilman on the 1973 USGS map1951Gilman sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gilman.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Polley Lane Bridge, Spanning Yellow River at Polly Lane
Retake this viewPolley Lane Bridge, Spanning Yellow River at Polly Lane

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Gilman’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Gilman, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 522

Between 328 and 522 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gilman’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

AuroraIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFordIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Gilman’s history

What year was Gilman founded?

The Gilman post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.