Gardner City

Gardner City Hall is located at 95 Pleasant Street, Gardner, MA 01440; phone: 978-632-1900.

Beginnings [1]

Gardner was incorporated as a separate town in 1785. It was named for Colonel Thomas Gardner who dies of wounds sustained at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Seth Heywood, who fought with Gardner at Bunker Hill, was one of the signers of the original charter.

The town grew rapidly and soon had saw mills, liveries, blacksmiths, dry goods stores and woodworking factories. For a time Gardner was known as the "Chair City of the World" having 12 furniture companies here during the mid 1800s, employing about 850 workers.

The Simplex Clock was invented by Edward G. Watkins in 1888, a worker at Gardner's largest furniture manufacturer. In 1901, the Simplex Time Recorder Company was opened.

Gardner was incorporated as a city in 1923. By the 20th century all of Gardner's furniture producers had either gone out of business or moved south. However many furniture outlets still survive in Gardner and have contributed to maintaining its identity as the Furniture Capital of New England.

1. Gardner — Past, Present and Future, City of Gardner,Massachusetts, www.gardner-ma.gov, accessed March, 2011.