The story
Read it all →How Gardner came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Gardner.
Gardner is named for its founder, Henry C. Gardner. In 2023, Mike Serena was reelected as mayor of Gardner.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Gardner
Gardner’s post office opened in 1855, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
1855first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Quick answers
How Gardner began
When was Gardner founded?
1855
The Gardner post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 940 in 18702020 census: 1,366171 years
How historic is Gardner?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Gardner post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Gardner’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gardner is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gardner’s overall grade.
Founding era1855, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194028.8% of homes (±7.5) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 48%
NewerOlder
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Gardner’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Gardner’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Gardner’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gardner’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Every building
Gardner, building by building, 1885–1913
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Gardner, 1882–1915
Passages that mention Gardner, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Ancestors and descendants of Daniel Gardner V. and Mary (Hodges) Gardner, late of Champaign, Illinois1915 · page 39Read the page →
Read the text
"In Colchester, deeds were found dated 1733, signed by Stephen Gardner, of Norwich, and from this time to 1742 he appears on the records as Stephen Gardner, buying lands in Colchester, Bozrah and Montville. His tombstone in the cemetery near Gardner's Lake was cleaned, and this inscription deciphered: 'Here lyes ye body of Stephen gardner who died february ye 9 1743 and in ye 76 year of his age.' "
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Historical encyclopedia of Illinois /cedited by Newton Bateman, Paul Selby,1914Read the page →
Read the text
RAILROADS The Chicago & Alton Railroad, which passes through Gardner, was built in 1853-4, the people of Gardner and the vicinity, contributing $3,000 for right of way. The first ticket agent at Gardner was (\ K. Snyder, and it is interesting to know that as he had no station house at the time, he carried all his papers in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Grundy County, Illinois1882 · page 277Read the page →
Read the text
Gardner has two railroads, the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis and the Kankakee & Seneca. The first was built in 1853-54, the first passenger train over the line, passing through Gardner upon the morning of the 24th of August, 1854. The line through here is double tracked; runs five passenger trains each way daily and takes rank
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Historical encyclopedia of Illinois /cedited by Newton Bateman, Paul Selby,1914Read the page →
Read the text
Robert Finley was another of the pioneers of 1S49, and the Village of Gardner now occupies a portion of his original holdings. He bought a quarter of Section 0 for $134, and later another quarter section for $173, and had the satisfaction of selling a large portion of it in town lots, receiving for a quarter of an acre much more than either of the original tracts cost him.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Gardner, 1855 to 1948
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Gardner, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Today9 recent
2024
2024
2024
2014
2011
2011
2011
2010
2006On the map
Gardner on the map, 1948 to 1983
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gardner. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1948Dwight sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gardner.
People over time
Gardner, census by census
Between 786 and 1,463 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gardner’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Gardner
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Gardner’s history
What year was Gardner founded?
The Gardner post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Gardner rank for history?
Gardner is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Gardner?
29% of Gardner’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1964.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (10), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.