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The first Czech settlers came into the area in 1865, and approximately 90 percent of the town's 1,250 inhabitants were of Czech descent in 1900. With them came a love for music, drama, gymnastics, education, patriotism, well-tended lawns and gardens, and traditional Czech foods. From early times on there were two opera houses, many fraternal organizations, and annual summer carnivals to celebrate the harvest.

Wilber was platted on March 10, 1873, on land donated by C.D. Wilber, after whom the town was named. Early merchants were W.H. Mann and Charles Harvey, who built a dam and a mill on the Big Blue River; W.C. Henry, who built an elevator; and C.D. Wilber, owner of The Wilber House. By 1875 the population was 800. Wilber became the county seat following an 1877 election.

The Wilber Mill, established in 1873, was rebuilt in 1913 and an electrical power unit was added. Hotel Wilber was built in 1895 and is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Some Wilber residents who have become prominent in their chosen fields:

• Dr. Olga Sadilek Stastny, the first Czech woman physician in Nebraska, was elected to the Nebraska Women's Hall of Fame in 1975.
• August Molzer, an 1897 Wilber High graduate, was a violinist who studied in Europe with Anton Dvorak and others and also served in the University of Nebraska Music Department and at Wesleyan.
• John Grant Tobias, an artist who lived in Wilber from 1924 to 1939, donated many of his scenes of Saline County to the Nebraska State Historical Society.
• Frank Sadilek, a prominent politician from 1883 through 1918, who served as county clerk and treasurer as well as a state senator, and was the author of My Reminiscences. 
• Irma Ourecky, promoter of many Czech events, was given the Henry Fonda Award in 1990 by the Nebraska Tourism Foundation for her work in Wilber and across the state.