On the north bank of the Skagit River, it had a large sawmill at one time. In 1880, it was named for B. L. Lyman, first postmaster. In the period of Skagit River steam boating, it was called Williamson’s Landing, for A. R. Williamson, a local settler.

Between Lyman and Hamilton the tour ascends along the river valley; the highway separates sharply contrasting country; on one side are stump lands amid stands of alder and second-growth fir, and on the other the light green of vegetable gardens, extending in precisely harrowed rows.