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History · Gilby

Gilby’s post office opened in 1881, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1926 on and the census since 1960.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Gilby began

When was Gilby founded?

1881

The Gilby post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1887.

First census: 281 in 19602020 census: 243145 years
Founding year: the first Gilby post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1887.

What stands out about Gilby’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 Gilby are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Gilby’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gilby’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gilby’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
The story so far

Gilby, in brief

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

Gilby is a city in Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. It is part of the Greater Grand Forks Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 243 at the 2020 census. Gilby was founded in 1887.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 237 to 243 (+3%).

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

Timeline

Gilby, 1881 to 1926

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Gilby post office opens
  3. 1889Born hereJohn D. McKenzie is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1926On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Gilby, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Gilby, North Dakota2006Gilby, North Dakota
On the map

Gilby on the map, 1926 to 1985

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

Gilby on the 1926 USGS mapGilby on the 1963 USGS mapGilby on the 1985 USGS map1926Ardoch sheet · 1:62,500

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

People over time

Gilby, census by census

01002003001960198020002020Peak: 283

Between 237 and 283 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Questions about Gilby’s history

What year was Gilby founded?

The Gilby post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1887.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 (1), 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.