Logging was the industry that opened up the territory in 1884 and the Chippewa River. Weigor and Thornapple Rivers were a solid mass of logs being floated down river. Also, in 1884, the Soo Line was completed from the west to Bruce and many homes and business places were constructed.

Small towns developed in a line east of Bruce as the Railroad developed and soon Ladysmith boomed.

Rusk County was originally named Gates County in 1901, when it was formed out of the northern part of Chippewa County. 

Ladysmith was made the county seat by the Legislature in honor of Jeremiah M. Rusk, a Civil War hero, Wisconsin Congressman, 3-term Governor of the State and the first United States Secretary of Agriculture under President Benjamin Harrison.

Farming developed slowly starting in the Bruce area where lumber-jacks acquired 40 or 80 acres, bought a cow or two, and raised food for their own use and fodder for their stock.
Rusk County consists of 936 square miles, with 24 townships, 8 villages, and 1 city.