The History of Gardner, Kansas

GARDNER, Kan. — This zipline takes us to southwestern Johnson County, Kansas – in the city of Gardner – zip code 66030.

Gardner is located near the cities of Olathe, Edgerton and Spring Hill and has a population of just over 23,000.

The story begins a few years before the Civil War. Gardner was founded where the Santa Fe, Oregon and California trails split.

“We are the only community in the entire United States that can claim to have three trails dividing our city,” said Shirley Brown-Vanarsdale, president of the Gardner Museum.

Brown-Vanarsdale says some of those travelers decided to stay. The town was primarily populated by travelers from Massachusetts — it is thought to be named after Henry Gardner, who was governor of Massachusetts at the time.

“Those people who came here in covered wagons, some of them stayed because they liked the country. They liked the farm,” Vanarsdale said.

Much of the town’s history can be found in the Gardner Historical Museum, which first opened in 2003. However, the house where all of the historical artifacts are kept was built a hundred and thirty years ago.

According to Vanarsdale, the creation of the museum was a citywide initiative.

“We’ve asked for donations of items to start the museum. We have so many…we need more space to store and more space to display,” Vanarsdale said.

With its rich history, many of the places you want to visit in Gardner are now on the National Register of Historic Places. Former Mayor Carol LehmanIt said it’s exciting news for residents.

“That means we now qualify for state and federal grants,” LehmanIt said.

And we’ll show you even more of that history – and the many other reasons why you should consider a trip to Gardner.