A short history of Gilbertsville, NY
Gathered by Margaret Moore, with additional information from Marion Webster.

          Today, when you visit Gilbertsville, you will find a picturesque community and pleasant people. But few would guess that if they looked back over the years they would find a village that had seen great times and bad times, yet refused to be beaten back into the ground.
          Gilbertsville actually started as a log cabin built by Abijah Gilbert in 1788. This cabin was not even a permanent site because Gilbert was merely visiting the land he had purchased sight unseen. But, it was the start, and soon after, Gilbert returned with his family to build and frame the house and put the land under cultivation and even purchased more land there.
          While it was a good area to live in, the settlers had their problems too. Various severe epidemics swept the region including smallpox in 1831 and diphtheria in 1857. And some of the winters over the years were ones to remember, including one during the diphtheria epidemic, where people described the snow as being ten feet deep on level ground.
          Still, in the true spirit of the American pioneer, the settlers prevailed and a village developed. Schools were established, improvements made, and commerce prospered.
          This area, though away from major centers of population, was not totally cut off. Stage lines ran through the village including the Catskill-Ithaca stage, the Utica stage and local stages to communities like Wells Bridge and Mt. Upton. Even the canals had an impact on the area, for the Erie Canal diverted trade away from Otsego County and the Chenango Canal provided to make for active training because of it's proximity.
          Fires were, of course, a problem to early Gilbertsville. It had no water district and there were three devastating fires that raged through the village.
          The fire of 1866 totally destroyed the business district of Gilbertsville, while the fire of 1874 burned more than thirty buildings, businesses and residences alike. The fire of 1893 leveled sections of the village. It was because of the fire of 1893 that the village was at long last incorporated in 1895 in order to establish a water system and a fire district. When the village was incorporated, the Village Improvement Society put in street lamps and then in 1921 these lamps were changed to electric lights. Gathered by Margaret Moore, with additional information from Marion Webster.
About Margaret Moore.

          Margaret P. Moore was born in Gilbertsville, went to school there, and came back to retire after a career as a schoolteacher. During her years of teaching, she'd return to her hometown in the summer months.
          Margaret, known to her friends as "Peg," was a daughter of longtime Gilbertsville merchant and funeral director J. Merton Moore and his wife Helen Palmer Moore.
          She was a graduate of the old Gilbertsville High School and of Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa. After graduation, she returned to Gilbertsville to teach history at the high school. A few years later, she moved to Massena, where she taught history until her retirement.
          After retirement, Peg spent two years traveling to many foreign countries before moving back to Gilbertsville. At that time, she became one of the organizers of an effort to have the village of Gilbertsville placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
          Peg was co-chairman, with Anne G. Mangold, of the Committee for Historic Preservation from 1972 to 1981 and chairman from 1981-1991. During that time, structural inventories for every property in the village were prepared, as well as inventories of each park, cemetery and bridge. There were more than 200 nominations in all. In 1983 National Register of Historic Places Certification for the entire village was received. Additional recognition for an expanded district was received several years later.
          In addition to her work with the National Register Nomination process, Peg was appointed as town historian in 1984 and continued in that position until her retirement in 1991.

          Margaret P. Moore, who contributed so much to support her home town, and document and preserve it's history, passed away in Chambersburg, Pa., on March 17, 2002 at age 93