You’ll find many artifacts from early Gilbert Schools preserved in our School Room exhibit. Children will get a taste of what school life was like in an old-style classroom, and some of our older visitors might remember a time when they themselves ran through the halls of this glorious old school building.
A brief history of Gilbert schools
Gilbert's first school was built in 1900 on the southwest corner of Baseline and Cooper Roads. The school was called Highland School, because it sat on the highest land south of the Salt River. In 1909 the school district moved the school to the northeast corner of Guadalupe and Cooper Roads.
When the Elementary School was built at the southwest corner of Elliot and Gilbert Roads in 1913, the Gilbert School District was formed. Students would often hitch a ride to school on a farm wagon heading to the new creamery that was built in 1911! Beats the big yellow school bus doesn’t it?
In 1977 the "Alamo", as the building was nicknamed, was abandoned for classroom use; in 1982 it reopened as the home of
Gilbert’s history museum; the building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
As you stroll around the old classrooms of the “Alamo” listening to the old floorboards creak, close your eyes for a moment and picture the generations of children who sat and learned in Gilbert’s school rooms over the years.
The Gilbert Historical Museum – Taking you back to your old school days!