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History · Gilbert

Gilbert was first counted by the census in 1880, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1944 on and the census since 1880.

1880first census
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Bernardgeorgeh · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Gilbert began

When was Gilbert founded?

1880

Gilbert first appears in the census in 1880. Two smaller post offices, Gilbert Hollow (1868) and Lewiedale (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 141 in 18802020 census: 571146 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Gilbert’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 Gilbert are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1930 and 1940, then grew 3-fold.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Gilbert.
★ 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.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Gilbert, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020235 in 1930Low: 153

Lost a third of its people between 1930 and 1940, then grew 3-fold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Gilbert’s post office has been open since 1904. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gilbert Hollow
1868–1886
Lewiedale
1886–1904
Gilbert
1904–today
18601940today

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

The story

How Gilbert came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gilbert.

Read it all →

The David Jefferson Griffith House and Music Hall Evangelical Lutheran Church were listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gilbert, 1868 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Gilbert Hollow post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Gilbert Hollow post office closes
  4. 1886Post officeThe Lewiedale post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1902Born hereClaude A. Taylor is born here
  7. 1904Post officeThe Lewiedale post office closes
  8. 1904Post officeThe Gilbert post office opens
  9. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 21st century
  11. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 571
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
On the map

Gilbert on the map, 1944 to 1986

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

Gilbert on the 1944 USGS mapGilbert on the 1986 USGS map1944Gilbert 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 Gilbert.

Questions about Gilbert’s history

What year was Gilbert founded?

The Gilbert post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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, 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.