Gardner (Massachusetts)

Gardner is a city in Massachusetts.

Understand

History

Named in honor of 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. 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.

Get in

  • Route 2

Get around

See

  • 🌍 Dunn State Park.
  • 🌍 Gardner Heritage State Park.
  • Lake Wampanoag Wildlife Sanctuary.

Do

  • Smith's Country Cheese, 20 Otter River Rd, Winchendon, +1 978 939-5738. Award-winning Gouda, Cheddar, and Havarti.
  • Red Apple Farm, 455 Highland Ave, Phillipston, MA 01331, +1 978 249-6763. Enjoy apple picking, cider, donuts, and local products at this orchard in the fall. Red Apple Farm is a big operation and gets very busy in the peak fall tourist season. So busy that they need parking attendants to direct the traffic. You can pick apples, take a hay ride, or feed some farm animals. The farm store sells a dizzying array of locally made products, most made right at the farm (jams, baked goods, syrup, cider, popcorn). They provide lots of free samples to entice you to buy. A cider doughnut is an essential fall experience. Outside, they have a grill and fire pit where you can order burgers, hot dogs, and a few BBQ options which you can eat in the covered picnic area.
  • 🌍 Mount Watatic. at 1,831 ft, is the second highest mountain in Massachusetts east of the Berkshires. Trailhead is off of MA 119 in Ashburnham

Buy

Eat

  • Blue Moon Diner, 102 Main St, Gardner, +1 978 632-4333. Worcester Lunch Car Company diner #815, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Classic diner food.

Drink

Sleep

Connect

Go next

Routes through Gardner

Greenfield Jct S N  W  E  Westminster Fitchburg
END Jct N S  N  S  Westminster Shrewsbury


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