Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1886 on and the census since 1880.
The Gilman post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gilman’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Gilman.
Gilman got its start in the year 1870, following construction of the Central Railroad of Iowa through the territory. The town is named for Charles Gilman, a railroad contractor. Gilman was incorporated in 1876. Gilman celebrates No-Rivers Day at the Gilman No-Rivers Festival. The annual festival is orchestrated by the Gilman Events committee.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Gilman, cut from the printed page as they were published.
First Congregational Church. — This Church was organized March 29, 1870, with eight members. This being prior to the rise of Gilman, the organization was perfected in School House No. 3, Green Castle Township. The Church was given the name of the above township but was changed to that of Gilman. Services were held in the school house, until the year 1871, when a church building was erected at a cost of $3,148.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The railroad came through in the Fall of 1870. The town of Gilman was laid out in December, 1870, by Fred. Baum Downer, Charles Hobart and F. F. Ingersoll. The town derived its name from President Gilman of the Central Road, now a resident of Eldora.
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.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gilman.
1980Gilman sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gilman.
Between 428 and 642 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gilman’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Gilman itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Gilman’s post office has been open since 1871.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Gilman post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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