Most of Gardner was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listing is the Peshtigo Reef Light. Below: maps from 1961 on and old-book passages.
The Gardner post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Little Sturgeon (1860) and Stevenson's Pier (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,218160 years
How historic is Gardner?
C+
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Gardner post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Gardner’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gardner is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gardner’s overall grade.
Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Gardner’s 7.6 sits above most of its state (71% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±2.4 points) is firm at this size. 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.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Gardner had its own post office from 1866 to 1905. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Little Sturgeon
1860–1905
Gardner
1866–1905
Stevenson's Pier
1882–1905
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Little SturgeonWillems Mobile Home Park
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gardner
GeiseSaint JosephStevensonWhite Star
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Gardner, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Gardner yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Gardner is a town in Door County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,218 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Little Sturgeon is located in the town.
Its first post office opened in 1866. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,194 to 1,218 (+2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Gardner in 1881
Passages that mention Gardner, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Door county, Wisconsin, together with biographies of nearly seven hundred families, and mention of 4,000 persons ..1881 · page 8Read the page →
Read the text
the hills or mounds we referred to in the first part of this chapter. He stated that in 1835, when he first settled, that there were acres of the mounds in the vicinity of what is now known as the town of Gardner; that large timber, perhaps a hundred or more years old, grew thrifty all over the entire patch, showing that it was once a cultivated field — that it was generations before the year 1835. In one or two idcidents an old Indian chief claimed that in the days of his forefather
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Door county, Wisconsin, together with biographies of nearly seven hundred families, and mention of 4,000 persons ..1881 · page 94Read the page →
Read the text
October 25th, 1880. ) y. E. Thorpe to C. L Martin: Mr. Increase Claflin, from the State of New York, being the first white settler of the town of Gardner, settled there May 1st 1835. In the year 1836 Robert Stevenson, from Pennsylvania came to Little
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, 1860 to 1961
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Gardner post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Gardner rank for history?
Gardner is more historic than 43% 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.
What is on the National Register in Gardner?
One place: the Peshtigo Reef Light (listed 2007).
How old are the homes in Gardner?
7% of Gardner’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
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