As the logging enterprises expanded, fast and dependable transportation became a necessity for the frontier.  River traffic was slow and the amount of cargo the boats could transport was limited.  The Omaha Railway began construction of the Park Falls division from Rice Lake in 1901.  The railroad reached Radisson in 1905 and ushered in a short period of prosperity.

After the plans of the Omaha Railway were made known, a building boom started.  A land office, a saloon, boarding house, and a livery stable were in operation before the railroad reached Radisson.  Shortly after the railroad was in operation, the Radisson Hardwood Lumber Company was established and began operations late in 1903.

The original plan of the Omaha Railroad was to build a terminal near the confluence of the Couderay and Chippewa Rivers.  This land was owned by the Arpin Lumber Company, and consequently, the railroad officials were hesitant about compromising with the Arpin Lumber Co.  Mr. O. O. Whited persuaded the railroad to change its course and build the depot at the site where the present station stands.  This accounts for the village being located where it is now, in a low, swampy area, instead of being in the hilly area near the Chippewa River.
Immediately after the arrival of the railroad, Mr. Whited held a public auction of building lots.  Many lots were sold, most of them having been located north of the railroad.  Homes were built quickly to provide shelter for the families of the millworkers and for the workers employed by the vaious businesses of the community.

In 1904 Mr. Whited built a house for his family near the Couderay River.  This house is still standing and is owned by Ralph Grimh, a partner in the Grimh Power Company.  In the year of 1907 Mr. Whited built the sturcture known today as the Bank Building.  It was contemplated that this building was to be used for a store and a bank, with apartments on the second floor.  Mr. Herman Madsen leased the store section and established a general merchandising business in 1908.

At the time the Radisson Lumber Company was organized at Radisson in 1903, it was predicted that there was enough timber to supply the mill for twenty years.  The mill owners made a good start in the fall of 1903, but because of mis-management, were force into bankruptcy in the spring of 1904.

In the summer of 1904 a gentleman by the name of Mr. Melville came to Radisson and purchased the sawed lumber in the yard and the sawmill, equipment, and timber holdings.  He organized the business under the name of the Radisson Hardwood Lumber Company and immediately began to cut logs and saw lumber.  Logs were cut in such large quantities that the local sawmill could not keep up and four and five train loads of logs were shipped daily to Rice Lake and other cities which had sawmills.  This pace continued for four years when all of the hardwood logs were processed.  The Radisson Hardwood Lumber Company closed its business in 1908, leaving the community to solve its own dilemma - to live or die.  Had the company saved the timber for its own mill, rather than contracting it to jobbers, it could have operated successfully for many years.

A few of the lumberjacks bought land near the village and began farming, while others left the village and found employment in other communities having sawmills.  Radisson was now in a transition period - from logging to farming.

The establishment of profitable farming was slow and very difficult.  Only the most diligent and ambitious farmer could be successful because the clearing of land was very strenuous work.  The huge pine stumps had to be grubbed out or blasted out with dynamite.  The soil in the vicinity of Radisson is well suited to agriculture but the growing season is too short for many crops.  Hay, small grains, and early maturing varieties of corn can be grown successfully.  The average frost-free period is from June 1st to September 1st.  There have been years when this are has experienced killing frosts in every month of the year.  Dairy farming is the most profitable type of agriculture pursued in this region.

In 1909 there was a definite need for a school.  A site was selected on a hill on the north side of the village where a four room brick school was built.  In the beginning only the first floor was finished and used.  As the population increased, additional school facilities were necessary and the second floor was completed and put into use.  The building continues to serve the village today as an elementary school.

War threats bring about agricultural expansion and that is what happened to Radisson.  More farmers bought land and more land was put into cultivation during the period from 1915 to 1925.  World War I brought prosperity to Radisson.  Where local business transactions are brisk, financial services are demanded.  This was true in 1917, consequently, the Chippewa Valley Bank was established with Mr. Henry LeBeau in charge.  The bank operated successfully since it was founded, and all credit for its solvency during the devastating depression of the 1930's, is due to Mr. LeBeau, who is an intelligent, efficient, and shrewd banker.  He continuously managed the bank until his retirement in 1950.

The soil at Radisson was particularly adapted to the cultivation of potatoes.  Extensive potato growing flourished during the 1920's.  A warehouse was built near the depot for the storage until the market was favorable for shipment to the large cities.  This business closed in 1930 when the price paid for potatoes was below the freight charges.  The warehouse has been remodeled and enlarged, and is now converted into a feed mill and farm supply store.

The second growth timber on the hills north of Radisson reached merchantable size early in the 1930's.  Walter's Brothers purchased this timber and built a sawmill in Radisson in 1936.  During the decade following this company operated its own logging camps in the winter and sawed the logs into lumber during the summer.  Walters Brothers continue to operate a sawmill and planing mill, although they depend upon local farm timber tracts for materials.  Their chief product is hardwood lumber although a large quantity of first quality hardwood logs are shipped by rail to veneer mills.

The ethnology of Radisson is interesting and deserves some attention.  The predominant nationalities are Swedish, Norwegian and Polish.  The Scandinavians who live in the area are descendants of immigrants who came to Sawyer County in the early logging days.  Most of these people settle on tracts of land in the southeast part of the Township along the Chippewa River.

The Polish people did not arrive in any appreciable numbers until 1916.  The Wisconsin Colonization Company set up an office in Radisson and did extensive advertising in Polish newspapers in large cities, such as Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York.  Most of the interested people were recent immigrants who had recently arrived from Poland.  They were rural people by nature, who loved the soil, and soon tired of city life.  The Wisconsin Colonization Company hired salesmen of Polish extraction to visit the immigrant in the city and create a beautiful word picture of the utopian opportunities in agriculture in Sawyer County.  Railroad fare was paid for any man who was interested.  This campaign was promoted in the wintertime when the snow was deep so the prospect couldn't see the rocks and stumps.  He usually signed a land contract or purchased a forty-acre tract and was given a deed to the property.  When they returned in the spring to erect homes and farm buildings and to cultivate their "garden spots", they were amazed to find the land unsuitable for plowing and planting.  Most of them tried to farm for a year or two, and after their savings were exhausted, became disillusioned and discouraged and left their farms and returned to the city.  A few of the more courageous and hardy remained, and after years of gruelling hand labor, have developed valuable farms which are passing into the hands of their children.  The Polish people settled in two distinct areas -- the southwest and the northeast corners of the Township.

The community known as Radisson was a part of the Township of Radisson.  In 1952 the settlement called Radisson was incorporated as a village.

Transportation facilities are good.  The Omaha Railroad operates a freight train daily.  The Crandell Transfer operates a truck freight line from Ladysmith twice a week, making connections with truck lines from all major cities.  Highways 27, 40 and 70 pass through the township and village of Radisson.