A Brief History of Gilbert Arizona

Gilbert is a relatively new community that has seen tremendous growth during the past two decades, and which was incorporated on July 6, 1920. The town was founded in 1902, when a rail siding was established on property owned by William "Bobby" Gilbert. The town that sprung up around this siding eventually became known as Gilbert, and was a prime farming community for many years. For this reason, it was nicknamed 'The Hay Capital Of The World' until the late 1920's. When the Town Council approved a strip annexation in the 1970s that encompassed 53 square miles of county land, Gilbert began to take its current shape. Over time, it has changed from an agriculture-based community to an urban center and suburb in the Phoenix area. It is growing at a rate unparalleled by most United States communities, with a population increase of over 130,000 between 1980 and 2003.