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Gibsonton, nicknamed 'Gibtown', is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida, located about 12 miles south of Tampa on U.S. Route 41.

Gibsonton was famous as a sideshow wintering town, where carnival and circus people spent the off-season near the winter homes of the Ringling Brothers Circus in Tampa, Sarasota and Venice.

Famed sideshow performers who lived in Gibsonton included Percilla the Monkey Girl, the Anatomical Wonder and the Lobster Boy, and Siamese twin sisters ran a fruit stand in the community.

Gibsonton's unique circus zoning laws famously allowed residents to keep elephants and circus trailers on their front lawns - something permitted almost nowhere else in America.

The community's first famous settlers were the Tomaini couple - a performer billed as 'the Giant' and his wife, 'the Half-Woman' - who ran a campsite, a bakeshop and the local fire department.

Gibsonton is home to the International Independent Showmen's Association - the 'Gibtown Showmen's Club' - which runs the largest trade show in the carnival industry.

Gibsonton was the inspiration for 'Humbug', the acclaimed 1995 episode of The X-Files about a community of retired sideshow performers.

Gibsonton had a population of 18,566 at the 2020 census, up from 14,234 in 2010, as the former carnival haven has grown into a Tampa suburb.

The community covers about 13.7 square miles along the Alafia River, of which about 6.1% is water.