Lessons of Gardner MA History
The History of Gardner MA has many Lessons for Its Future
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First some key dates in Gardner’s history:
Gardner was settled in 1764. Its first settler reportedly was Elisha Jackson. After acceptance by the state of a petition by various settlers, Gardner officially became an incorporated town on June 27, 1785. After a vote by its citizens, Gardner officially became a City on January 1, 1923.
Gardner is now in its 101st year as a City and will celebrate its 238th birthday on June 27, 2023.
The Business of Chairs
James Comee started making chairs on Pearl Street in Gardner in 1805. The Heywood Brothers started what would become the Heywood-Wakefield Company in 1826. (It was incorporated in 1921.) There were 20 Chair Factories in Gardner about 1910 and it was a flourishing industry producing about 4 million chairs a year. Standard Chair of Gardner is still in operation today shipping chairs and other furniture all over the world. Another notable fact: Edward Watkins invented the time clock in 1894, eventually becoming the Simplex Time Recorder Company.
The lesson: Reliance on one key industry can be problematic. Today, Gardner has a number of successful industries of different descriptions and has commissioned a grant-funded study of whether a new Industrial Park would be viable in the Matthews Street area.
Government
Until it became a City with a City Council in 1923, Gardner had a Board of Selectmen. It has always had a number of departments with various functions. As far as buildings, there were various locations. The current City Hall opened on January 20, 1940 and needs refurbishing to its electrical systems and some new bathrooms for City employees and the public who comes to do business.
The lesson: It’s nice that the City’s leaders have chosen to postpone the needs of that building in favor of other community needs first, but the time has come to give City Hall a little updating, including the windows of Perry Auditorium.
The Changing Schools
Predicting the School Building needs of Gardner has proven to be a difficult proposition over the years. Originally, in 1787, Gardner had 4 School Districts. This was changed in 1869 by State Law when Graded School Districts became the norm and buildings were organized by Grade level. Here are some interesting dates: A new High School opened in 1927 and in 1976. A new Middle School opened in 1997. A new Elementary School opened in 2022. Another new High School may be needed within the next 10 to 15 years.
The lesson: Whenever possible, build schools so that future expansion at the current site is possible to cut down on future costs. Over the history of Gardner, this has been a difficult thing to achieve for various reasons.
Pride in the Schools
“Gardner Wildcats” is the name given for Gardner teams today. In the High School Argus publication of 1923, Gardner had a class song:
Gardner’s Class Song – Argus of 1923 – Words by Francis Reilly – Music by Mildred Lavallee
| Oh, let each voice ring loud and clear, Nor sadness nor sorrow proclaim, Dear Gardner High, we sing today To praise thy glorious name. |
| A song that echoes down the line Of years that are to be, And gently wafts our mem’ries back to the class of Twenty-Three |
| We’ll keep the promise of colors bright, The blue and the gold we acclaim. And write the name of Gardner High On the roll of eternal fame. |
| CHORUS Oh, Alma Mater, may your blessing Help us on our destined way. Always worthy of your teaching, Ever foremost in the fray. Always worth of your teaching, Ever foremost in the fray. |
In 2022, Gardner Elementary School Principal Earl Martin created somewhat of an internet sensation when he, with the help of others, created a song promoting the values of the Gardner Elementary School. Here’s a link to that article, CLICK HERE. The lesson: Good ideas never get old.
The lesson here: Pride in Gardner Schools never goes out of style.
Recreation
The Greenwood Memorial was a gift to the City one hundred years ago. The Greenwood Swim Club was organized in 1933. The water in the indoor pool used to be heated via a pipe from Heywood-Wakefield. When that was no longer available, sufficient funds were no longer provided to adequately maintain the facility as monies were used to heat the water instead. The building fell into disrepair and will be torn down in 2023 to be replaced by an Outdoor Pavilion – the project including demolition and new facility is grant funded except for about $156,000 which has been authorized by the City Council. In 1923, Gardner’s first Mayor made recreation a priority. The Gardner Municipal Golf Course became 18 holes in 1967. In 2023, groundbreaking will take place for Maki Park on Parker Street, Park Street Park on Park Street, and various continuing improvements to existing parks in the City.
The lesson here: No matter what the City property, providing for adequate maintenance, repairs, and ongoing upgrades is probably cheaper over the long term.
Music in the Community and the Schools
There was a Community Concert Series in Gardner from 1947 to 1961. Sometime later it was started up again. Concerts in Monument Park were well attended in 2022 and are expected to return in 2023. Other music venues in Gardner include the Polish American Citizens Club and the Lithuanian Club. The music programs suffered in the Gardner Public Schools due to budget cuts over a decade ago. Recently, with budgets restored and an infusion of $100,000 in much needed instruments, the numbers are up at the Elementary School level. Eventually, it is expected that a much higher percentage of Middle School and High School students will be in to music as they age.
The lesson here: Music and the other Arts are essential school subjects, the lack of which adversely affect students in so many ways – do not cut funding again in the future.
The Changing Library
The current Gardner Museum was once the Memorial Library, opening in 1886. The library was for a time located on City Hall Avenue, and the current Levi-Heywood Memorial Library opened in 2001.
The lesson was learned – the well-built library will serve the City for a long time to come.
The Changing Police Station
The Pleasant Street Police Station (now the Annex next to City Hall) opened in 1928. For a time, the Gardner PD occupie d the site of the former library on Pleasant Street until moving in to the current Gardner Police Headquarters in 2015.
Lesson to be garnered from this is that a new Gardner Fire Headquarters to be built when the current location can no longer be repaired should also be built to last like the current police station.
Getting the Mail
The first private post office was in 1827. First postal delivery began on January 1, 1900. The current post office was built as a Federal Building in 1935. Today, in lieu of the first-class letter, much written communication takes place via email, texting, and social media.
Lesson here: Changes in technology changes methods of communication.
Medical in the Community
Heywood Hospital opened in 1907. It has expanded throughout the years and is currently building a new Surgical Pavilion to open perhaps sometime in 2023. Community Health Connections is opening its new facility near Walmart early this year.
Lesson or observation here: The level of medical care available in Gardner has far outpaced the population growth and is distinct asset.
Transportation
Early transportation in Gardner was by horse and buggy with the automobile coming in to wide use after the 1920s when Gardner had already become a City. Regular rail service was from 1871 to 1986 when the regular stop was discontinued in Gardner. Most public transportation is done by the Montachusett Regional Transportation Authority (M.A.R.T.) Other transportation services to the community are provided by the Council on Aging and by GaamHA.
The lesson here: Bringing rail service back to Gardner would provide an alternate means of transportation to Boston, for example.
Business
Gardner has had its ebbs and flows with business, expanding 100 years ago, then suffering various declines and expansions. The Greater Gardner Industrial Foundation was organized in 1956. Money was raised to promote Gardner and bring in industry. Payrolls increased by $3 million by 1965 Currently, Gardner is on a positive trajectory when it comes to business, having added a net 3 dozen businesses since the pandemic rather than losing them. Additional growth is forecast for 2023. Various projects are underway in the Downtown and other areas of the Chair City. The Chamber of Commerce was established in 1920. It has recently become active again in the community and has even reactivated its Legislative Affairs Committee.
The lesson: Promoting the City of Gardner via proactive outreach efforts such as was done in the 1950s would also serve Gardner well today. It would serve to boost the already exemplary efforts of the Department of Economic Development.
The Environment
The Flood and Hurricane of 1938 caused Crystal Lake to rise 30 inches above the high water mark at the height of the storm. A study is underway to determine best efforts to avoid flooding in the Downtown area should a large storm occur again. With the Federal Budget recently passed, Gardner will be receiving the $1 million dollars needed to replace its main water line which is in need of replacement. The water quality issue still needs to be addressed as an elevated rate of corrosion still occurs in Gardner MA heating equipment. Manufacturers have partially compensated by altering the metals used in the coils so that copper corrosion isn’t as big a factor, but citizen complaints still occur and heating companies still report the issue is active.
The lesson: Officials in the City do not talk about the corrosive water issue given pending litigation. However, this is somewhat silly, as the lawsuit really ends up being the Citizens of Gardner suing themselves – not much will actually be gained – more positive results would occur in getting better answers to the problem including identifying if anything can actually be done about it.