The story
Read it all →How Gilbert came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Gilbert.
Gilbert was named for Hezekiah Gilbert, who owned the land upon which the town was built.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
DHistory
History · Gilbert
Gilbert’s post office opened in 1913
More historic than 13% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Gilbert was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: old-book passages.
1913first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Gilbert began
When was Gilbert founded?
1913
The Gilbert post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Gilbert Station (1878), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
2020 census: 1,211113 years
How historic is Gilbert?
D
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Gilbert post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Gilbert’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gilbert is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gilbert’s overall grade.
Founding era1913, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19407.6% of homes (±4.0) · typical IA town 21.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IA town 9.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 13%
NewerOlder
Iowa towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Iowa town has 9.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Gilbert’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Gilbert’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 Gilbert’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gilbert’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Gilbert in 1911
Passages that mention Gilbert, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Story County, Iowa1911 · page 451Read the page →
Read the text
notably since the interurban railroad came. Colo, Collins, Zearing and Mc- Callsburg are all of them business and social centers that are improving steadily and that will continue to improve as time progresses and the surrounding country grows richer. Gilbert Station and Kelley have the disadvantage of being rather close to Ames, as are Fernald and Shipley to Nevada, but the first three of these four towns are progressing obviously in spite of all their difficulties. Iowa Center is the one town in the county which maintains its existence off from any railroad ; and while in this
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Story County, Iowa1911 · page 410Read the page →
Read the text
be related concerning the Xarrovv Gauge. The widening and reconstruction of the road south of Ames and soon afterwards north of Ames and extension north, gave Story County its first railroad of consequence crossing the county north and south. Gilbert Station was added to the other towns that had been establi.-;hed in the county, and the general facilities for getting away from home and getting back were very greatly improved.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Gilbert, 1878 to 1913
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1878Post officeThe Gilbert Station post office opens
- 20th century
- 1913Post officeThe Gilbert Station post office closes
- 1913Post officeThe Gilbert post office opens
By decade
Gilbert, decade by decade
2021
2012
2004Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Gilbert
Nobody well known was born in Gilbert itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
M
Mamie EisenhowerFirst Lady of the United States from 1953 to 19… · b. 1896L
Laurel ClarkNASA astronaut, medical doctor, United States N… · b. 1961
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Gilbert’s post office has been open since 1913. Another post office, Gilbert Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Gilbert Station
Gilbert
18701950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Gilbert’s history
What year was Gilbert founded?
The Gilbert post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Gilbert rank for history?
Gilbert is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Gilbert?
8% of Gilbert’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1978.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.