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C−History
History · Gardner Township

Gardner Township dates to 1857

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #117 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it

Most of Gardner Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1880.

1857founded
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center · Public domain
Quick answers

How Gardner Township began

When was Gardner Township founded?

1857

Gardner Township dates its founding to 1857 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 203 in 18802020 census: 2,593169 years

How historic is Gardner Township?

C−

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1899.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Gardner Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gardner Township is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #117 of 151 in Kansas. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gardner Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1857, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.3% of homes (±4.8) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical KS town 5.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 20%
NewerOlder
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 23%

Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Gardner Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of Kansas 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 D to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 points). Two sources give 1857.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Gardner Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Gardner Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gardner Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gardner Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wainwright
1899–1906
Clare
1906–1913
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Clare
Gone or out of use
Burbank AirportairportHermon Farm AirportairportOlathe Air Force StationmilitaryOlathe Naval Air Stationmilitary
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gardner Township
FullerGardnerSaint Columbia

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Gardner Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gardner Township.

Read it all →

Gardner was founded where the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon/California Trails divided. The Santa Fe Trail sent travelers southwest through Santa Fe and Albuquerque toward Los Angeles and San Diego. The Oregon/California Trails bore west for a few miles before turning north toward the Kansas River valley, followed the Big Blue River into present-day Nebraska, followed the Platte River west, and ultimately split in present-day Wyoming, Idaho or Utah.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gardner Township, 1857 to 1957

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857
    FoundingGardner Township is established
  3. 1899Post officeThe Wainwright post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906Post officeThe Wainwright post office closes
  6. 1906Post officeThe Clare post office opens
  7. 1913Post officeThe Clare post office closes
  8. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Gardner Township, decade by decade

Today6 recent
ATSF 999101 Caboose2016ATSF 999101 Caboose2 2 ATSF 999101 Caboose and Crossing Sign 1-27-1620162 2 ATSF 999101 Caboose and Crossing Sign 1-27-161 2 ATSF 999101 Caboose and Crossing Sign 1-27-1620161 2 ATSF 999101 Caboose and Crossing Sign 1-27-16"From Prairie Schooners to Locomotives" wayside with train and cars in the background at Gardner Junction2008"From Prairie Schooners to Locomotives" wayside with …"From Prairie Schooners to Locomotives" wayside at Gardner Junction2008"From Prairie Schooners to Locomotives" wayside at Ga…18. Parting of the Trails - Gardner Jct. (U.S. 56 and 183rd Street, Gardner, KS) on the California, Oregon, and Santa F…200418. Parting of the Trails - Gardner Jct. (U.S. 56 and…
On the map

Gardner Township on the map, 1957 to 1991

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gardner Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Gardner Township on the 1957 USGS mapGardner Township on the 1970 USGS mapGardner Township on the 1991 USGS map1957Gardner sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gardner Township.

People over time

Gardner Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,0001880190019201940196019802000202023,287

Grew from 203 people in 1880 to 23,287 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gardner Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Gardner4 historic placesC+EdgertonIts storyCOlathe7 historic placesCMcCamish Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSpring Hill Township2 historic placesB−Lexington Township1 historic placeB−Richland Township1 historic placeA−

Questions about Gardner Township’s history

What year was Gardner Township founded?

In 1857, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Gardner Township’s post office opened in 1899, and the census of 1880 counted 203 people here.

How does Gardner Township rank for history?

Gardner Township is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #117 of 151 in Kansas. 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 Township?

5% of Gardner Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1979.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.