Gardner, Tennessee
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Gardner (also Gardner Station, Gardners Station, Gardner's, Gardnersville) is a former town, now an
unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
, in western Weakley County,
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
, United States.


History

Gardner was founded in 1856 by its namesake, Colonel John Almus Gardner. He was the first president of the
Nashville and Northwestern Railroad Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
(a predecessor to the
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway was a Rail transport company, railway company that operated in the U.S. states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It began as the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, ...
) and he owned the land on which the town was established. The town had a period of prosperity in the years after the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
. As the only significant town between
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
and Union City, it was a business center for western Weakley County. It became an
incorporated municipality Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally owned c ...
in 1869, with lawyer William Parker Caldwell serving as its first mayor. Caldwell was later to become a
U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...
man, serving in the
U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
from 1875 to 1879. Initial plans for the north-south Mississippi Railroad called for the rail line to pass through Gardner, but in 1873 the planned route was shifted from Gardner to
Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...
. Gardner declined after 1873; many local businesses relocated to Martin. William Parker Caldwell's
home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...
in Gardner is still standing and is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.


References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Weakley County, Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Tennessee