2015 Map of Gilman

About this map

Gilman serves as the southern anchor for this section of the Marshall and Tama County borderlands, where the landscape is defined by a dense grid of section-line roads and numerous small rural settlements. The map documents several community clusters, including Le Grand, Ferguson, and the rail-oriented villages of Dillon, Pickering, and Dunbar. This area is notable for its concentration of denominational burying grounds, which reflect the ethnic and religious heritage of the settlers who worked these fields. Researchers will find the Saint Joseph's German Lutheran Cem and Stavanger Friends Cem particularly significant for tracing regional genealogy. The drainage patterns of Timber Cr and Brush Cr break the geometric precision of the farm plots, illustrating how the natural hydrology of central Iowa influenced the placement of original homesteads and local roads like Coppock Park Rd.