Gardner is a village in Grundy County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. The population was 1,463 at the 2010 census.

History

Gardner is named for its founder, Henry C. Gardner.

Geography

Gardner is located at (41.187881, -88.309524). According to the 2010 census, Gardner has a total area of , of which (or 99.05%) is land and (or 0.95%) is water.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 1,406 people, 558 households, and 392 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 580 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.36%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 0.07%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 0.07% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.92% from other races, and 0.43% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 3.27% of the population. There were 558 households, out of which 35.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.04. In the village, the population was spread out, with 26.8% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males. The median income for a household in the village was $42,500, and the median income for a family was $51,827. Males had a median income of $45,288 versus $25,694 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the village was $18,995. About 6.0% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 8.6% of those under age 18 and 2.7% of those age 65 or over. Gardner is a small mid-west town about southwest of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

on Historic U.S. 66. Gardner hosts an annual celebration on the first weekend in May in conjunction with the Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor. Gardner is known on U.S. 66 for its historic 2-cell jail and the Riviera Restaurant, east of town, a prohibition hangout of Al Capone with a beer cooler located in a basement vault. On June 8, 2010, the Rivera Restaurant was destroyed by a fire that broke out in the basement.

Education

Gardner has one grade school and one high school. The high school is known as Gardner-South Wilmington (GSW) High School and is actually the result of three towns combined. Students from the towns of Braceville, East Brooklyn and, South Willmington also attend. GSW competes with Dwight Township High School (

Dwight, IL Dwight is a village located mainly in Livingston County, Illinois, with a small portion in Grundy County. The population was 4,032 at the 2020 census. Dwight contains an original stretch of U.S. Route 66, and from 1892 until 2016 continuously us ...

) in several sports including football, track, cross country, and golf. *

Robert C. Underwood Robert C. Underwood (October 27, 1915 – March 30, 1988) was an American jurist. Born in Gardner, Illinois, Underwood received his bachelor's degree from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1937 and his bachelor's degree from University of Illin ...

, Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, was born in Gardner.Illinois Supreme Court-Robert C. Underwood
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References

{{authority control Villages in Grundy County, Illinois Villages in Illinois