Arizona republican., 1922-01-01
GILBERT IS BUSY
TOWN IN CENTER
Of RICH DISTRICT

Gilbert Is located in the famous
Salt River valley, 20 miles east OF
Phoenix on the Arizona Eastern rail-
road. Like other towns and cities
of the country it has history that is
very interesting.
Gilbert is not an old town; in fact,
is is one of the last of the number
of enterprising towns of the valley
TO be laid out The land upon which
the town of Gilbert is now situated
was homesteaded by w. NJ. Gilbert
a number of years ago, at that time
the surrounding country being moth
ing but desert, with its mesquite,
cactus and greasewood to greet the
prospective investor.
In the survey of the Arizona East
ern railroad to Florence, Ray and
Hayden, the projected line crossed
through the land belonging to Mr..
Gilbert. However, Mr.. Gilbert refused
to give a right of way to the rail-
road company unless they would
erect a station on the road at that
place and call 1t Gilbert. This was
finally agreed upon by both parties
and the road was constructed. The
comparatively few people residing in
the community at that time thought
that the desert station would never
rise to much more than a lonesome
siding.
In this they were entirely wrong
because in the span of a few short
years great progress was made. More
people began to move into the COM
munity. purchase lands and make
vast improvements, and today Gill
bert is a thriving community COM
posed of enterprising people, good
business houses and highly improved
farm lands
When the first settlers located in
the community the great problem to
overcome was the proposition of ad-
equately furnishing the land with wa
ter. At the time the Roosevelt dam
project was not in existence and the
| farmers had to rely upon what wa
| ter they could get from the Salt
! River. which at times was every in
adequate. However, as time went on
| the project was developed and the
! farmers were assured of water at all
| times. At the present time Gilbert has
| two fine canals, the Eastern and the
! Consolidated, which furnish plenty of
water to all the land.
The soil in the Gilbert district Is
very deep and fine and conducive to
| the raising of abundant crops. This,
/ coupled with the famous climate Of
the Salt River valley, insures a long
growing season and makes Gilbert
/ one of the finest agricultural districts
/ in the entire valley. The principal
crop Of the Gilbert district is alfalfa
| hay and more hay is shipped from
| this point that any other in the en-
| tire state. Cantaloupes in the past
few years have been very productive
and many acres are planted and har-
vested each year. In addition to
these products, corn, milo maize, veg
/ etables, grains and cotton are raised.
Diversified farming is a great fea
/ ture in this community and a larger
/ norton of the farms are equipped
| with sllos so that winter feeding
NAV be carried on effectively. This,
| of course, fosters the dairy business
and much dairy stock is raised.
/ In a business way Gilbert is very
| progressive, having a bank garages,
/ first class mercantile establishments,
/ cotton gin, restaurants and other
/ lines of business that so to make
up an efficient commercial commu-
! nifty. The business men are keen and
alive to every situation and make