Gilbert, Arizona

The aerial picture shown here is of Gilbert in the mid-1930s and gives a very clear view of Gilbert and its minimal progress from the scenes of the 1920s. There was a lot of vacant land, as it was a typical small town in the depression years. This picture has been used to build a Gilbert Diorama which is on display in the Town Room of the Gilbert Historical Museum. There was little change in the town from the time of this picture and the mid-1940s other than a few newer cars. The aerial picture on the following page gives a good view of the Railroad Depot, which was the hub of business from its beginning in 1903 through the 1950s. The Barber Building in the bottom center of the picture became the home of the Gilbert Enterprise in 1929, which served as our weekly newspaper for many years. The water tower is visible on the west side of Main Street. On the right side of Main Street in the middle of the picture is the red brick building that was built in 1929 for the Pay-n-Take-it store. It was built where the old Timmons Garage and later the Tone and Blakely Garage had been. We remember the building as the Tone Building because the Tones built it. The super grocery store did not last, due to the Great Depression. The large building on the west side of Main Street is the Blakely Building.

k The Blakely Building

k Town of Gilbert looking northwest