Gilbert Historical Museum

 Originally opened as Gilbert Elementary School in 1913, HD SOUTH is the oldest building still standing in Gilbert and is the only one on the National Register of Historic Places. The Gilbert Historic Society had been meeting since 1960 and was incorporated in 1979 but had no official building to call their own.  When the school closed in 1977 and the building became available, the historical society leased it from Gilbert Public Schools and opened the historical museum in 1982. Then in 1985, through the generous donation of Otto and Edna Neely, the Society purchased the building and the land. The museum was volunteer operated until 2005 when the first executive director was hired. Over the next several years, the museum made great strides to become one of Arizona’s premier community history museums. In 2010, the Society began searching for a new direction that would sustain them over time. The staff and board of directors held many strategic planning sessions and conducted many meetin