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History · Gilbertown

Gilbertown’s post office opened in 1911

Most of Gilbertown was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1974 on and the census since 1920.

1911first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Gilbertown began

When was Gilbertown founded?

1911

The Gilbertown post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 229 in 19202020 census: 739115 years
Founding year: the first Gilbertown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Gilbertown’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Gilbertown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1950 and 2000, then grew 3-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gilbertown’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gilbertown’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Gilbertown, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020413 in 1950Low: 187

Lost half of its people between 1950 and 2000, then grew 3-fold.

9 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gilbertown’s Wikipedia page.

The story so far

Gilbertown, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Gilbertown yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Gilbertown is a town in Choctaw County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 739.

Its first post office opened in 1911. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 215 to 739 (+244%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Gilbertown, 1911 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1911Post officeThe Gilbertown post office opens
  3. 1974On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1996Born hereAngela Quentina Arnold is born here
  5. 21st century
  6. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 739
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Gilbertown on the map, 1974 to 1986

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gilbertown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Gilbertown on the 1974 USGS mapGilbertown on the 1986 USGS map1974Toxey sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gilbertown.

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Gilbertown’s post office has been open since 1911.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Old Samuel
Gone or out of use
Little Mill Creek Oil FieldoilfieldMill Creek Oil Fieldoilfield
1cemetery inside Gilbertown
Gilbertown Church of God

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Gilbertown’s history

What year was Gilbertown founded?

The Gilbertown post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.