Alexandre Gilbert, one of the founding fathers of Seaside, was born in LaRochelle, France, on April 16, 1845, to Frank and Mary Gilbert. At age twenty-four, just before the Franco-Prussian War, he married Emma Loncol in Paris on January 22, 1869. After the war, the Gilberts immigrated to San Francisco, California, in 1871, where Alexandre developed his skills as a carpenter and cabinet maker and built and established the Gilbert House, a hotel and boarding house. In 1881, after learning that land was cheap in Oregon, the Gilberts moved to Astoria. Struck by the rugged beauty of the Oregon coast and its resemblance to his native France, he spent the next 54 years helping develop businesses, property, and communities in the area. Among his greatest achievements was the 1 1/2 mile Promenade; wanting the beach to remain open to the public, he acquired the property and donated it to the city. He also developed the downtown business district called the Gilbert Block. As mayor of Seaside during the 1912 fire that burned most of the city, he provided leadership that helped turn the disaster into an opportunity to rebuild with an emphasis on permanent concrete buildings. Over his life, Alexandre worked as a soldier, carpenter, hotel and boarding house operator, saloon operator, insurance and real estate salesman, Port of Astoria commissioner, French consul, and mayor of Seaside. He was remembered as a fine representative of the solid and sustainable businessmen of Clatsop County, a man of great enterprise and forethought, a citizen of affluence and influence, and, simply, as loved by his family.