Gibsonton’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold just one old photo of Gibsonton. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusGibsonton, sometimes nicknamed Gibtown, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. U.S. Route 41 runs through the center of the community. The population was 18,566 at the 2020 census, up from 14,234 at the 2010 census. Gibsonton was famous as a sideshow wintering town, where various people in the carnival and circus businesses would spend the off season, placing it near the winter home for the Ringling Brothers Circus at Tampa, Sarasota and Venice in various times. It was home to Percilla the Monkey Girl, the Anatomical Wonder, and the Lobster Boy. Siamese twin sisters ran a fruit stand here. At one time, it was the only post …
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 14,234 to 18,566 (+30%). Half of its homes were built before 2002.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Gibsonton yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Gibsonton’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gibsonton’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewEast Bay Motel sign, Route 41, 1980: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people close to Gibsonton
See all 12 →
Gibsonton, decade by decade
1990s
Nothing in Gibsonton is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Gibsonton has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is House at 418 Blanca Avenue in Tampa, 8.2 miles away.
Gibsonton and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as East Bay Motel sign, Route 41 (1980) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.