Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Gibsonia

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Gibsonia

Half of Gibsonia’s homes were built after 1968

Most of Gibsonia was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Below: maps from 1908 on and old-book passages.

0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Gibsonia’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 Gibsonia are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19084 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1969. Watch Gibsonia change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gibsonia’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gibsonia’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
On the map

Gibsonia on the map, 1908 to 1969

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

Gibsonia on the 1908 USGS mapGibsonia on the 1910 USGS mapGibsonia on the 1950 USGS mapGibsonia on the 1969 USGS map1908New Kensington 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 Gibsonia.

The story

How Gibsonia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gibsonia.

Read it all →

Gibsonia was named in honor of the Gibson family who settled the area; their original house was demolished in December 2019. The early history of Gibsonia is, naturally enough, interwoven with the history of the Gibson family. About the time of the Civil War, Charles Gibson Jr., built the first steam flour mill west of the Alleghenies on Grubbs Road. His granddaughter, Nancy Gibson James, recalls hearing her uncle tell of the farmers riding to the mill with sacks of grain across the saddles. The Gibson family homestead was built by her grandfather, Charles Gibson Jr., in 1839. Just below the former site of the home, near the railroad crossing, still remains the foundation of Charles Gibson's general store. This building, destroyed by fire in 1908, besides housing the store was also the first post office in Gibsonia. For about ten years before it burned it was in use as a mission of the …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Gibsonia in 1889

Passages that mention Gibsonia, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The Pittsburgh & Western railroad crosses the township from north to south, with stations at Valencia, Bakerstown and Gibsonia. The latter is a postoffice, which was established in 1880, and the present name was adopted in 1882.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 142Read the page →
Read the text

The Pittsburgh & Western railroad crosses the township from north to south, with stations at Valencia, Bakerstown and Gibsonia. The latter is a postoffice, which was established in 1880, and the present name was adopted in 1882.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Pittsburgh & Western railroad crosses the township from north to south, with stations at Valencia, Bakerstown and Gibsonia. The latter is a postofiice, which was established in 1880, and the present name was adopted in 1882.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 142Read the page →
Read the text

The Pittsburgh & Western railroad crosses the township from north to south, with stations at Valencia, Bakerstown and Gibsonia. The latter is a postofiice, which was established in 1880, and the present name was adopted in 1882.

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

Gibsonia, 1908 to 1995

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1983Born hereJason Capizzi is born here
  4. 1983Born hereBlake Lalli is born here
  5. 1989Born hereSpencer Whipple is born here
  6. 1995Born hereRyan Luther is born here
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
Famous people

4 famous people were born in Gibsonia

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
Jason CapizziPlayer of American football · b. 1983
Ryan LutherAmerican basketball player · b. 1995
Blake LalliBaseball player · b. 1983
S
Spencer WhippleAmerican football coach · b. 1989

Questions about Gibsonia’s history

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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.