One of the first settlers in Jackman was Samuel Holden, who moved to the area in 1819. Mr. Holden and his family followed the Kennebec River north to the Forks and, from there they traveled on snowshoes about thirty miles, settling in the Moose River Valley. Their second home still stands on the Moose River Golf Course.
Around 1810, a wagon road was established in hopes of developing new markets for products. In Maine, this road was called the Old Canada Trail; and it was also known as Arnold's Trail for Benedict Arnold, who used this route to Quebec during the American Revolution. In the 1830s, Captain James Jackman was hired to complete the construction of the road from the Forks to Canada, and the village bears his name.
The Canadian Pacific Railroad was extended to Jackman in 1888, after which the lumbering industry went into high gear in the first part of the 20th century with the opening of the Kellogg Lumber Company at Long Pond in 1906. Lumbering became the main industry of the area, and it remains a major business today, although the mills are gone.
Jackman was organized as a plantation on March 5, 1895, after earlier organizations for election purposes in 1859 and 1894.
The village of Jackman is on the shores of Wood Pond, with Attean Township to its immediate left. Attean Pond and Attean Mountain are southwest of the village. The Moose River runs through the village, providing attractive opportunities for fishing and hunting, and for jobs in the logging industry, although the latter is declining throughout Maine. Jackman is only fifteen miles from the Canadian province of Quebec.