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–Not graded
History · Gerber

Gerber’s post office opened in 1916, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

1916first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
Photo: Publichall · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Gerber began

When was Gerber founded?

1916

The Gerber post office opened in 1916, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,044110 years
Founding year: the first Gerber post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Gerber’s past

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

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gerber’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The story

How Gerber came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gerber.

Read it all →

Gerber was platted in 1910, and named after the Gerber family, original owners of the town site. A post office has been in operation at Gerber since 1916.

In the early years, Gerber was a center supporting ranchers and alfalfa growers.

Between 1916 and 1965, Gerber was the location of a division point on the Southern Pacific Railroad between the Sacramento and

Shasta Divisions. Situated two miles north of the junction of the West Valley Line to Davis and the East Valley Line

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Gerber, decade by decade

Famous people

Famous people close to Gerber

Nobody well known was born in Gerber itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Places that used to be

Old corners

Gerber’s post office has been open since 1916.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Kiska

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Questions about Gerber’s history

What year was Gerber founded?

The Gerber post office opened in 1916, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.