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History · Gabbs

Gabbs dates to 1941

Most of Gabbs was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1963. Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1960.

1941founded
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Gabbs began

When was Gabbs founded?

1941

Gabbs dates its founding to 1941 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1960.

First census: 770 in 19602020 census: 18685 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1942.The full story ↓

What stands out about Gabbs’ 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 Gabbs are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Gabbs’ homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gabbs’s collection

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

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

How Gabbs came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gabbs.

Read it all →

Gabbs was founded circa December 1941 as a company town for Basic Magnesium, Inc. (BMI), which operated a magnesium production plant in the area. The town grew out of an earlier mining camp named Brucite (after the magnesium oxide brucite that occurred locally), and took the name of the surrounding Gabbs Valley, itself named after paleontologist William Gabb (who had studied fossil specimens from the area). World War II demand for magnesium fuelled the plant's expansion under the direction of the War Production Board, and policing, a jail, and a school district were established during 1942. Gabbs became a township in June 1943, with a population of 426. Settlements at North Gabbs, South Gabbs, and Tent City (which later largely merged into North Gabbs) were served by a library, city hall, parks, and tennis courts, and a succession of local newspapers. The city incorporated on March 29, …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gabbs, 1941 to 1948

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1941
    FoundingGabbs is established
  3. 1942Post officeThe Toiyabe post office opens
  4. 1943Post officeThe Toiyabe post office closes
  5. 1943Post officeThe Gabbs post office opens
  6. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Gabbs, decade by decade

Today12 recent
2014-07-28 12 06 46 View east along Brucite Street in central20142014-07-28 12 06 46 View east along Brucite Street in…2014-07-28 12 03 51 View north along Nevada State Route 361 (Gabbs Valley Road) about 8.4 miles north of the southern b…20142014-07-28 12 03 51 View north along Nevada State Rou…2014-07-28 10 23 30 View south along Nevada State Route 361 (Gabbs Valley Road) about 8.2 miles north of the southern b…20142014-07-28 10 23 30 View south along Nevada State Rou…2014-07-28 10 20 40 Panorama of central20142014-07-28 10 20 40 Panorama of central2014-07-28 10 20 14 View of central20142014-07-28 10 20 14 View of central2014-07-28 10 17 40 View south along Nevada State Route 361 (Gabbs Valley Road) about 9.0 miles north of the southern b…20142014-07-28 10 17 40 View south along Nevada State Rou…2014-07-28 10 16 22 View of Gabbs, Nevada from southbound Nevada State Route 361 (Gabbs Valley Road)20142014-07-28 10 16 22 View of Gabbs, Nevada from southb…2014-07-28 10 16 10 View south along Nevada State Route 361 (Gabbs Valley Road) about 9.6 miles north of the southern b…20142014-07-28 10 16 10 View south along Nevada State Rou…Gabbs, Nevada2011Gabbs, NevadaGabbs Schools2011Gabbs SchoolsEntering2011EnteringApproaching2011Approaching
On the map

Gabbs on the map, 1948 to 1988

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

Gabbs on the 1948 USGS mapGabbs on the 1950 USGS mapGabbs on the 1988 USGS map1948Paradise Peak 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 Gabbs.

People over time

Gabbs, census by census

02004006008001960198020002020Peak: 874

Between 186 and 874 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Gabbs’s post office has been open since 1943. Another post office, Toiyabe, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Toiyabe
1942–1943
Gabbs
1943–today
19401980today

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

Questions about Gabbs’ history

What year was Gabbs founded?

In 1941, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Gabbs’ post office opened in 1942, and the census of 1960 counted 770 people here.

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 (12), Wikipedia, 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.