Gilbert

Understand

Gilbert bills itself as is the largest incorporated town in the United States. It is the 5th most populated community in Arizona. From 1990 to 2003 it was also the fastest growing, outpacing even places like Las Vegas, largely due to its lower initial starting population. Gilbert is in the southeast valley, south of Mesa, northeast of Chandler, and northwest of Queen Creek and Chandler Heights.

History

Gilbert owes its beginnings to William "Bobby" Gilbert who provided land to the Arizona Eastern Railway in 1902 to construct a rail line between Phoenix and Florence, Arizona. Ayer's Grocery Store, the first store in Gilbert, opened in 1910 and became the location of the first post office in 1912. The town post office moved several times before settling on the east side of Gilbert Road in downtown, where it still stands today. In 1912, many Mormons who had fled the Mormon colonies in Mexico due to the actions of the forces of Pancho Villa settled in Gilbert. By 1915, they began holding church meetings at the Gilbert Elementary School. In 1918, they were organized into the Gilbert Ward.

Incorporated in July 1920, Gilbert was primarily a farming community fueled by the rail line and construction of the Roosevelt Dam and the Eastern and Consolidated Canals. It remained an agricultural town for many years and was known as the "Hay Capital of the World" from 1911 until the late 1920s.

Downtown Gilbert (along Gilbert Road between Elliot and Guadalupe Roads, centered on the railroad crossing) has numerous historical buildings, some dating from the 1910s, even before Arizona statehood. A few buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, while others are listed as historical by the Gilbert Heritage District.

Gilbert has remained a town instead of becoming a city in part due to its early population size and how Arizona defined a city as needing more than 3,000 persons, which it surpassed only in the 1970s. Since then, it's due to Gilbert wanting to maintain a "small town" image, even with a population of over a quarter of a million.

Local information

• Gilbert City Council website

Get in

By plane

• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport PHX — In east Phoenix, 3 mi (5 km) from downtown Phoenix. All major US carriers serve Phoenix Sky Harbor with lots of flights to major cities across the country. Southwest Airlines and American Airlines have hubs at Sky Harbor. It is approximately 30 minutes from Gilbert.
• Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport AZA — East of Phoenix, in neighboring Mesa. It is served mainly by Allegiant Air and Sun Country Airlines. It is a small airport that is being redeveloped into a major regional airport.

By car

Gilbert is primarily served by one area freeway - the "Santan Freeway" portion of Loop 202. A small section of the US 60 (segment known as the "Superstition Freeway") also skirts the northern boundary of the town at the Higley Road interchange (Exit 186). Several regional major surface streets also serve the area, including Williams Field Road, Chandler Boulevard, Pecos Road, Gilbert Road and Greenfield Road.

By bus

Get around

Car is the easiest way to get around Gilbert.

By bus

• Valley Metro is a regional public transportation system for the metro Phoenix area.

Go next

• In the Greater Phoenix area:
• Head into Scottsdale for the day – take Loop 202 west, then Loop 101 north.
• Head Loop 202 West, then north on I-10 to downtown Phoenix – catch a show or a ballgame, or see the Phoenix Zoo or the Desert Botanical Garden.
• North of the Metro Phoenix area — on Interstate 17 North:
• Visit the Grand Canyon – a four hours drive to the South Rim, north near Flagstaff.
• Elsewhere north: Prescott, Sedona and Route 66.
• South — on Interstate 10 East:
• See South Central Arizona, with an hour-and-a-half drive to Tucson.
• Elsewhere south: Picacho Peak State Park, Saguaro National Park, Santa Catalina Mountains.
• West — on Interstate 10 West (via Loop 202 West):
• Head towards the Palm Springs area in the California Desert, or continue onwards to Southern California for Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Hollywood.