Gibson began in 1877 as two separate companies.  Joshua Hall, a New England icebox maker, moved to Belding, Michigan, and founded the Belding-Hall Company.  He was attracted to the area because of the outstanding cabinet making skills of the Danish craftsmen who had settled there and because of the plentiful supply of ash and other hardwoods.

In that same year in nearby Greenville, Michigan, Frank Gibson and John Lewis also began manufacturing iceboxes, which they called “ice refrigerators.”  The two companies developed separately until 1908 when Frank Gibson bought the Belding-Hall Company.  The merger created the largest manufacturer in the industry at the time and a major supplier of cabinets for the first electric refrigerators.  Gibson has experienced numerous significant events over the years.