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'Gardner, Massachusetts' is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 20,770 at the 2000 census. Gardner is home to Dunn Pond State Park, Gardner Heritage State Park, Lake Wampanoag Wildlife Sanctuary, and Mount Wachusett Community College.

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Government

Events

Notable Residents

References

External links

History

Named after Col. Thomas Gardner, the community was first settled in 1764 and officially incorporated as a town in 1785 after receiving land grants from the surrounding towns of Ashburnham, Westminster, Templeton and Winchendon. Dating from about 1805, it became a center for lumber and furniture industries. Indeed, Gardner is known as the "Chair City" and "The Furniture Capital of New England", due to its long history in furniture production. By 1910 it had 20 chair factories which produced 4 million chairs per year. It was also noted for silversmithing. The Gardner State Colony for the Insane pioneered the use of cottage residences. Gardner was incorporated as a city in 1923. It became a filming location for the 1992 movie, ''School Ties''.
Gardner is the birthplace of Heywood-Wakefield furniture, dating from 1826 when the five Heywood brothers began to fashion furniture in a barn near their father's farm. Brothers Walter, Levi, Seth, Benjamin and William began that year making wooden chairs. In the early years, Walter fashioned chairs by hand, also using a foot lathe. He was soon joined by his brothers Levi and Benjamin, part-time, while running a nearby country store. A new store was built across the street from the original store. In 1831 Levi moved to Boston where he established an outlet store to sell the chairs, while Benjamin and William remained in Gardner to manufacture the chairs. A fire destroyed the Heywoods' chair shop in 1834. In 1835 the partnership of B. F. Heywood & Co. was formed, comprised of Benjamin, Walter and William, with Moses Wood and James W. Gates.

Geography

Gardner is located at (42.573920, -71.990818).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 59.6 km² (23.0 mi²). 57.5 km² (22.2 mi²) of it is land and 2.1 km² (0.8 mi²) of it (3.52%) is water. Gardner is situated on Crystal Lake.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 20,770 people, 8,282 households, and 5,085 families residing in the city. The population density was 361.4/km² (936.0/mi²). There were 8,838 housing units at an average density of 153.8/km² (398.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.13% White, 2.29% African American, 0.34% Native American, 1.37% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.22% from other races, and 1.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.08% of the population.
There were 8,282 households out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.97.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.7% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 105.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,334, and the median income for a family was $47,164. Males had a median income of $35,804 versus $26,913 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,624. About 7.0% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.8% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Events

★ For many years, the Gardner Municipal Golf Course has been home to the Central Massachusetts High School Cross Country Championships. Every three years, it is also home to the Massachusetts High School State Cross Country Championships. The course record for the hilly 2.9 mile course is 14:00 set by Andy Powell in 1998 while Lynn Jennings has the girl's record with a time of 15:50 from 1977.

Notable Residents

★ Hadassah Lieberman, wife of U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman

★ Mark Gearan, president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges

References

★ Rouland, Steve ''Heywood-Wakefield Modern Furniture'', 1994.

External links

★ Gardner official website

★ Gardner Online Magazine

★ Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce

★ Dunn Pond State Park

★ Gardner Heritage State Park

★ Lake Wampanoag Wildlife Sactuary

★ Mount Wachusett Community College