Pillager is a hundred years old and it is a town that almost wasn't. The railroad stopped a few miles east of Pillager at a town called Sylvan, but when the mills closed down on the Gull River, the railroad continued west.

The town of Pillager may have flourished due to the pretty creek on the north side and the Crow Wing River on the south. The early settlers spoke of fording the river and indian campsites for which the town was named.

Pictures show that a quality town was built here: brick and stone buildings are all gone except one building which was the 1st Bank and now houses the Pillager trading Post and Antiques.