Gar Creek was once a shipping point on the Wabash and Toledo Railroad. A small community of 500 people eventually settled around the station. In 1883, lumber and grain were the primary exports of the station. Gar Creek enterprises at that time included a shingle manufacturer, two carpenters, a Justice of the Peace, a saw mill, a general store with a railway agent and a Postmaster (Jesse Rothgeb), a blacksmith, a hoop manufacturer, and United Brethren and Lutheran churches. The population at that time was listed as 130.