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Gardner Village Blog 10 Things You Might Not Know About Gardner Village History
Friday Jul 19 2024

You know Gardner Village, but do you really KNOW. The Village is more than a popular shopping center. It’s even more than the home of the award-winning WitchFest and other celebrated seasonal events. In fact, Gardner Village is loaded with unique facts and cool historic stories to tell. Especially this time of year! With Utah’s Pioneer Day right around the corner (July 24), we want to share some of that interesting history with you in…

 

20 Neat Things You Might Not Know About Gardner Village History

 

Okay, so we aren’t going to cover all 20 here. That’s a bunch for a single blog post. Consider this part one of this two-part look at the fascinating stories The Village has to tell.

1. Gardner Village is named after Archibald Gardner.

2. Archibald Gardner was a Scottish immigrant and a pioneer who trekked to Utah in 1847.

3. After being asked by Brigham Young to settle the area, Archibald Gardner and early Utah pioneer settlers built the mill, which took many years to complete.

4. The flour mill was originally built in 1853. It was rebuilt in 1877. Today, you can still find glimpses of this past as you shop at Gardner Village, including this unique display located upstairs in CF Home Furniture & Design. 

5. In the early pioneer era, the flour mill was surrounded by a sawmill, a blacksmith’s shop, a mattress and broom factory, and a general store. The “village” vision that later became Gardner Village was inspired by how things were back in those days.

6. Stop, drop, and roll! Nancy Long bought the abandoned flour mill in 1979. She saved it from being burned down.

7. Here’s some buzz… When Nancy Long renovated the mill, she found pounds and pounds of honey behind the walls from honey bees living there.

8. Sadly, Nancy passed away November 21, 2022. She leaves a tremendous legacy that lives on not only with her beautiful family but also with all of the other wonderful families who make The Village a part of their lives and traditions.

9. Two of Nancy’s children, Joe Long and Angie Gerdes, own and operate Gardner Village today.

 

10. The flour mill is on the National Historic Register.

 

In our next post, we’ll talk about how Gardner Village focuses on family first, is the home to buildings that were once located in other spots around the state, the origins of WitchFest and more! We hope you’ll join us again on August 9.  Until then, we’d like to wish all Utah residents celebrating the 24th of a July a safe and happy Pioneer Day! 




Labels: utah state history, pioneer day, unique ways to celebrate july 24 in the salt lake area, utah historic register, unique shopping, best family fun in utah