Gilbert, AZ guide
A railroad siding donated by a landowner named Bobby Gilbert. A nickname earned hauling alfalfa hay. A population that grew nearly 150-fold in half a century. Here's the real, documented story of how Gilbert got here.
The area's first homestead claim dates to 1891, though the town itself didn't yet exist as a place-name at that point. That changed in 1902, when a railroad line seeking a right-of-way for a route running from Phoenix toward Florence and Kelvin found a willing landowner in William "Bobby" Gilbert, who donated or sold the right-of-way for a rail siding built on his property — the origin of both the town's name and its original location. The rail line to Kelvin was completed in 1903. By 1910, Gilbert still had no paved roads, electricity or indoor plumbing; Ayer's Grocery Store opened that year and housed the town's first Post Office starting in 1912. The town was officially incorporated on July 6, 1920.
Construction of the Eastern Canal in 1904 and the completion of the Roosevelt Dam in 1911 — both part of the Salt River Project — brought reliable irrigation water to the area and touched off a genuine farming boom. Gilbert earned a lasting nickname from it: the "Hay Shipping Capital of the World," a reputation that took hold in the early 20th century, especially during and after World War I, when Gilbert-area alfalfa hay was shipped out to help supply the U.S. Army, alongside local cotton, dairy and watermelon farming. The original 1913 Gilbert Elementary School building — nicknamed "the Alamo" — now houses the Gilbert Historical Museum at 10 S. Gilbert Rd. and carries a listing on the National Register of Historic Places, a physical link back to that farm-town era still standing in the middle of today's Heritage District.
Gilbert remained overwhelmingly agricultural and genuinely small for decades — the town's population was just 1,971 as late as 1970. That's easy to forget standing in Gilbert today, but it's the honest starting point for understanding just how recent the town's transformation actually is.
In the 1970s, anticipating growth patterns already visible in neighboring Tempe, Mesa and Chandler, the Gilbert Town Council approved a strip annexation covering roughly 53 square miles of surrounding county land — a decision widely credited with setting up the town's later explosive growth by giving it room to expand into long before that expansion actually happened.
What followed was one of the more dramatic population trajectories of any American town: 29,188 residents in 1990, 109,697 in 2000 (a 275.8% increase in a single decade), and 208,453 in 2010 — a roughly 90% increase that made Gilbert the fastest-growing incorporated place with a population over 100,000 anywhere in the country that decade. The 2020 Census counted 267,918 residents, and the Census Bureau's most current Vintage 2025 estimate puts the town at 287,285 — a 7.2% increase over 2020. Gilbert is Arizona's fourth-most-populous municipality today. It's worth noting that Gilbert is legally a "town," not a "city," under Arizona law, even at this scale — a technical classification that hasn't stopped it from functioning at the scope and complexity of a major suburb. Gilbert's size relative to other well-known American "towns" has led some sources to describe it as the most populous incorporated town in the United States; that comparison hasn't been independently verified against every other U.S. town, so it's best treated as a plausible, widely repeated claim rather than a settled fact.
Gilbert maintains two official Sister City relationships: Leshan, China, and a joint sister-city relationship with Antrim and Newtownabbey in Northern Ireland — a small but genuine reminder that even a town built on hay farming and a railroad siding has developed international civic ties as it's grown.
The same infrastructure story that built Gilbert's agricultural economy — reliable water, a rail connection, room to expand — is, in a very real sense, still the story of the town's growth today, just with technology, healthcare and mixed-use development standing in for hay and cotton. Major current projects like Heritage Park downtown and The Gilmore at Val Vista and Germann are the latest chapter in a growth story that stretches back to a single donated railroad right-of-way in 1902. For today's homeowners, that history shows up in tangible ways — a Heritage District genuinely built on early-1900s bones, alongside neighborhoods and infrastructure that are, in historical terms, remarkably new.
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From this guide
The town is named for William "Bobby" Gilbert, a landowner who donated or sold a railroad right-of-way in 1902 for a rail siding built on his property — the origin of the town's name and original location.
July 6, 1920.
Reliable irrigation water from the Eastern Canal (1904) and Roosevelt Dam (1911) enabled a farming boom, and Gilbert-area alfalfa hay was shipped in large volume in the early 20th century, especially during and after World War I, when it helped supply the U.S. Army.
It's a claim repeated in some sources given Gilbert's size relative to other well-known U.S. "towns," but it hasn't been independently verified against a complete national list — treat it as a plausible claim rather than a confirmed superlative.
From 1,971 residents in 1970 to 287,285 in the Census Bureau's most recent Vintage 2025 estimate — including a decade, 2000 to 2010, in which Gilbert was the fastest-growing incorporated place over 100,000 population in the entire country.
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ReadA 272-acre regional park, a wake park and surf lagoon, and years of phased construction — Gilbert Regional Park has reshaped its corner of town since 2018. Here's what building or renovating nearby actually involves.
ReadFour East Valley cities and towns, four different growth stories. Here's a factual, no-disparagement comparison of Chandler, Mesa, Queen Creek and Gilbert — useful context whether your project sits in one, or straddles more than one.
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