Excerpts from Weakley County History Book 1999.
The town of “Gardner Station”, later just Gardner, was founded in 1856 on land owned by Colonel John Almus GARDNER and is named after him. He was the first President of the Nashville and North Western Railroad. Col. GARDNER was prominent in local and State affairs, serving the Tennessee Legislature for six years as a Senator. He was a member of the 1870 Constitutional Convention. We best remember Colonel GARDNER for his historic speech about the early settlers and early times of Weakley County, given the 4th of July 1886 at the County Seat, Dresden, Tennessee. by MaryCarol
The first business was a steam saw and flouring mill owned by GARDNER & PEEPLES in 1855. Robert H. WATKINS, the first merchant, opened a store in the same year. The first house was built in 1856 for D. W. SCATES. Dr. William E. STONE located in Garnder in 1857. Captain James M. DEAN taught the first school which was established in 1857.
Gardnerville was the name of the first Post Office and was located about one mile north of the present town. Thomas H. GARDNER was the postmaster. It was later moved nearer the railroad and the name changed to Gardner.
In 1877, the Methodist Church was the first church to hold services, and the first paster was Rev. W. C. SELLERS. The Church of Christ was started in 1877, and still has an active fellowship today. The Baptist Church was organized in 1879 and in 1920, the membership moved to Martin.
One of the first private schools in the County, Corona Institute, was started in 1893. It was located in the brick home of Colonel John A. Gardner, who died in 1892 in Texas at the home of his son. It is not known when this school closed. Fire later destroyed the Gardner Home.
John A. GARDNER gave land for a public school in 1870. The frame building built served the Gardner Academy – an elementary and three year high school. The high school was discontinured in 1931, and the building was used for grades one through eight until 1952 when the school was closed. Students were then transferred to Martin. The frame building was replaced by a brick building which was used as a community center until it burned down in 1953. Members of the Community Center purchased the land from the County Board of Education and built another building of concrete blocks with volunteer labor. It still stands today.
Gardner was incorporated in 1869, William P. CALDWELL was the first Mayor. He was a lawyer and served in the U.S. Congress. His home still stands north of the railroad.
Soon after the Civil War, Gardner became the business center of Western Weakley County. It was the only main town between Dresden and Union City. Some of the businesses at this time were : Martin & Brooks Grocery, Medows & Lovelace, Knox & Caldwell, Gardner & Sons, and Smith – Gardner – Ayers Company, Gordon & Penn, J. H. Draughan, Meadows & Hawkins Grocery, F. M. Gardner – Druggist, Earl Cathon and Dr. Sawdeck saloons.
Some of the early settlers in the community were Joshua, Jesse and Alfred GARDNER; D. P. CALDWELL and William FREEMAN. Some of the early families were BOMER, CRAVEN, DALTON, ELDER, FARMER, GRAY, HESTER, MALONE, PETTYJOHN, and WHEELING.
Many of the businesses of Gardner moved to Martin when the North South Mississippi Railroad line was changed in 1873 from the originally planned route through Gardner to Martin. Thereafter, Gardner began to decline.
