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B+History
History · Gibraltar

8 of Gibraltar’s places are on the National Register

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Gibraltar was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1961 on, and the census since 2000.

8on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Gibraltar’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Gibraltar’s history

How historic is Gibraltar?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Gibraltar’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gibraltar is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gibraltar’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19406.6% of homes (±2.3) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register8 listings, 26 historic buildings, 258 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder

Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Gibraltar’s 258 sits above most of its state (98% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 26 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.3 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Gibraltar’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register8 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gibraltar’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCampanula rotundifolia: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

8 listings protect 26 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
8
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
26
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Eagle Bluff Lighthouse
Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, built 1868Chambers Island Lighthouse, built 1868Church of the Atonement, built 1878Alexander Noble House, built 1875Welcker's Resort Historic DistrictVorous General Store, built 1895Freeman and Jesse Thorp House and CottagesHANOVER (schooner) Shipwreck
BuildingsDistrictsSites

Architectural styles listings

Gothic Revival3
Late Victorian2
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements2
Mid 19th Century1
Italianate1
Eagle Bluff LighthouseGothic Revival · Built 1868
Chambers Island LighthouseBuilt 1868
Church of the AtonementGothic Revival · Built 1878
Alexander Noble HouseMid 19th Century · Built 1875
Welcker's Resort Historic DistrictGothic Revival
Vorous General StoreItalianate · Built 1895
Freeman and Jesse Thorp House and CottagesLate Victorian
All 8 listings
HANOVER (schooner) ShipwreckSite · listed 2015

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story so far

Gibraltar, in brief

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

Gibraltar is a town in Door County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,228 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Fish Creek and Juddville are located in the town.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,021 to 1,228 (+20%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Gibraltar in 1881

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

day in April, 1859, a town meeting was held at the school house, and the town put upon its feet. The County Board, at the May meeting, 1859, attached the Island to the town of Gibraltar, the authorities of the town of Chambers Island having failed to elect town officers at the annual meeting. All b…
History of Door county, Wisconsin, together with biographies of nearly seven hundred families, and mention of 4,000 persons ..1881 · page 56Read the page →
Read the text

day in April, 1859, a town meeting was held at the school house, and the town put upon its feet. The County Board, at the May meeting, 1859, attached the Island to the town of Gibraltar, the authorities of the town of Chambers Island having failed to elect town officers at the annual meeting. All books were turned over to the clerk of the town of Gibraltar.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Williams, who finished up the house and kilns. A year or two later, the house was burned, and Williams abandoned the enterprise. . . .In 1858 the town of Gibraltar wns set off, and organized, including town 29> 3°> 31* 32» and fractional town 33, and Islands in Green Bay, We remained under that org…
History of Door county, Wisconsin, together with biographies of nearly seven hundred families, and mention of 4,000 persons ..1881 · page 83Read the page →
Read the text

Williams, who finished up the house and kilns. A year or two later, the house was burned, and Williams abandoned the enterprise. . . .In 1858 the town of Gibraltar wns set off, and organized, including town 29> 3°> 31* 32» and fractional town 33, and Islands in Green Bay, We remained under that organization a short time, when Liberty Grove was set off. In 1861 Gibraltar was divided into three towns, viz: Gibraltar, Egg Harbor, and Bailey's Harbor, and the first town meeting was appointed to be held in a school house in April, 1862, when the

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

Gibraltar, 1858 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Fish Creek post office opens
  3. 1868BuiltEagle Bluff Lighthouse is built
  4. 1868BuiltChambers Island Lighthouse is built
  5. 1875BuiltAlexander Noble House is built
  6. 1878BuiltChurch of the Atonement is built
  7. 20th century
  8. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Gibraltar, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Campanula rotundifoliaDate?Campanula rotundifolia
Today22 recent
Horseshoe Island in Green Bay2023Horseshoe Island in Green BayStrawberry Islands, town of Gibraltar, Door County, Wisconsin 20202020Strawberry Islands, town of Gibraltar, Door County, W…Peninsula State Park, Horseshoe Island, and Fish Creek, town of Gibraltar, Door County, Wisconsin 20202020Peninsula State Park, Horseshoe Island, and Fish Cree…Northern Chambers Island, town of Gibraltar, Door County, Wisconsin 2020 (cropped)2020Northern Chambers Island, town of Gibraltar, Door Cou…Mackaysee Lake in northern Chambers Island, town of Gibraltar, Door County, Wisconsin 20202020Mackaysee Lake in northern Chambers Island, town of G…Mackaysee Lake in northern Chambers Island, town of Gibraltar, Door County, Wisconsin 2020 (cropped)2020Mackaysee Lake in northern Chambers Island, town of G…Hanover Shoal off of Chambers Island, town of Gibraltar, Door County, Wisconsin 2020 (cropped)2020Hanover Shoal off of Chambers Island, town of Gibralt…Ephraim–Gibraltar Airport 2020 Door County, Wisconsin2020Ephraim–Gibraltar Airport 2020 Door County, WisconsinAerial view of the southern portion of Chambers Island, town of Gibraltar, Door County, Wisconsin 20202020Aerial view of the southern portion of Chambers Islan…Aerial view of the southern portion of Chambers Island, town of Gibraltar, Door County, Wisconsin 2020 (cropped)2020Aerial view of the southern portion of Chambers Islan…Aerial view of northwestern community of Baileys Harbor, southeastern town of Gibraltar, and northwestern town of Baile…2020Aerial view of northwestern community of Baileys Harb…Aerial view of Juddville, Thorp Pond, southern Fish Creek, and south tip of Peninsula State Park in the town of Gibralt…2020Aerial view of Juddville, Thorp Pond, southern Fish C…JuddvilleWisconsinSignWIS422011JuddvilleWisconsinSignWIS42JuddvilleWisconsinDowntownWIS422011JuddvilleWisconsinDowntownWIS42GibraltarWisconsinTownHallFishCreekWisconsin2011GibraltarWisconsinTownHallFishCreekWisconsinJack-go-to-bed-at-noon goatsbeard Tragopogon pratensis2010Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon goatsbeard Tragopogon pratensisWhite birch, Betula papyrifera, town of Gibraltar, Door County, Wisconsin, December 20, 20082008White birch, Betula papyrifera, town of Gibraltar, Do…StrawberryIslandsGreenBayWisconsin2008StrawberryIslandsGreenBayWisconsinFishCreekWisconsinPostOfficeGibraltarTownCenterWIS422008FishCreekWisconsinPostOfficeGibraltarTownCenterWIS42Fish Creek Town Dock, Door County, Wisconsin, December 20082008Fish Creek Town Dock, Door County, Wisconsin, Decembe…Fish Creek Town Dock, Door County, Wisconsin, December 20082008Fish Creek Town Dock, Door County, Wisconsin, Decembe…WIMap-doton-Gibraltar2004WIMap-doton-Gibraltar
On the map

Gibraltar on the map, 1961 to 1982

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

Gibraltar on the 1961 USGS mapGibraltar on the 1982 USGS map1961Chambers Island 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 Gibraltar.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Campanula rotundifolia
Retake this viewCampanula rotundifolia

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Gibraltar’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Gibraltar, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20020002020Peak: 1,228

Between 1,021 and 1,228 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Gibraltar

Nobody well known was born in Gibraltar itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Mitchell LeisenAmerican film director · b. 1898
John McLeanAmerican athlete and coach · b. 1878
Kathleen KirkhamActress · b. 1895
A
Arthur GardnerProducer and actor from the United States · b. 1910
Tom PetriAmerican politician · b. 1940
John HubleyAmerican animation director, art director, prod… · b. 1914
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Fish Creek
Gone or out of use
Door County QuarriesmineJarman Quarrymine
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gibraltar
BlossombergJuddville

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Ephraim7 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBaileys Harbor9 historic placesBEgg Harbor2 historic placesC+Liberty Grove4 historic placesA

Questions about Gibraltar’s history

How does Gibraltar rank for history?

Gibraltar is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Gibraltar?

8 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse (listed 1970, the first), 1 historic district, the Welcker's Resort Historic District, with 13 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 26 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Gibraltar?

7% of Gibraltar’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1994.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (23), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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 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.