The town of Lyman originally grew around a general store owned by Augustus Belton Groce, which opened in the mid-1870s. This led to the community become known as Groce's Stop. In 1923, the Groce family sold over to Pacific Mills; by the following year the Lyman Printing and Finishing Mill had been constructed, and by 1927, Pacific Mills had built 375 homes as housing for their employees. The town was then renamed in memory of Arthur T. Lyman, a former president of the mill. Lyman prospered for years as a textile town, but by 2005 the last mill was closed.