The town of Gibbs was an outgrowth of the Santa Fe Railroad, laid out in 1887 when the rail lines passed through southeastern Adair County. The name Gibbs was chosen in honor of Frank W. Gibbs, who donated land to the Santa Fe Railroad for the construction of a rail depot and stockyard. At the time of Gibbs' incorporation in 1894, it was anticipated that the town might become Adair County's main rail shipping point for the Santa Fe. This hope was bolstered by the fact that the road leading to Gibbs was the first all-weather road in the county. In the late 1800s a considerable amount of cattle and hogs were shipped from the Gibbs depot to packing houses in Chicago, along with seasonal carloads of fresh apples, strawberries, and eggs to points across America. Perrin & Company of Chicago also constructed a grain elevator trackside for the storage and shipping of corn, with lesser amounts of barley, oats, and wheat. The addition of a second Santa Fe trackline next to the existing one in 1908 added to Gibbs residents hopes for a bright future.