Gilbert Peterson (August 5, 1824 – November 14, 1890) was an American general contractor that constructed a number of infrastructure works including waterworks and canals.
Career Peterson was the founder and President of Peterson & Sons, which he ran with his two sons, Charles Gilbert Peterson and Jesse Peterson. The company executed contracts building the waterworks of Toledo, Ohio; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Milwaukee; part of the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad"The Late Gilbert Peterson." Buffalo Morning Express 20 Nov. 1890. and worked on multiple reservoirs in the Washington, D.C. area.United States. United States Congressional Serial Set. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1885."Obituary." The New York Times 16 Nov. 1890: 5.
He was a partner at Hunt, Peterson & Kinsley, responsible for enlarging Erie Canal between Middleport, New York, and Gasport, New York, in 1855, and canal repairs in Albany, New York, Frankfort, New York, and Kilburn Hill, New York.Cutter, William Richard. Genealogical and Family History of Western New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co, 1912.
Peterson was superintendent of both the eastern and western divisions of the Erie Canal, and in 1867–1868 he was alderman of the 2nd Ward of Lockport, New York.Lockport (N.Y.). Revised Charter and Ordinances of the City of Lockport. Lockport, N.Y.: Press of Roberts Bros. Co, 1913.
Personal life He is the great grandfather of Charles Sterling Bunnell.
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