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Gardner Village is a small strip mall with some old historic buildings. It’s more of a strip mall, than a historic village which is why I haven't explored it too much until now. I have only been here for Witch Fest and Christmas lights before, so I have been meaning to come check it out in the daytime for sometime now, and well, today was the day.
The area features a pretty pond with a pair of neat bridges, some old buildings, and well, a couple shops.
This post is a culmination of 2 visits.
Quick Details:
Length: Its not a perfect loop, so I wandered about and did about a half mile. Then I did an additional .6 of a mile the next day.
Trail Type: Meander
Difficulty: DR2. It is paved and easy going.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: There are a few scattered throughout. They either close them when they close, or they are seasonal. So, a backup would be the Maverick just to the west.
Dogs? Yes, leashed.
Other Info: 2025 hours are 10 AM to 6 PM. However the shops are independently owned and can set their own hours. Although, it does appear most of the little shops adhere to the main hours. Also, you can take Trax here.
To Get Here:
From i15 take the 7200 S exit heading west. Take the first left onto 700 West. south towards 7800 S. Turn right. You will see Gardner Village on the right, just past the Trax bridge.
If using Trax: Take the Red Line to the Historic Gardner Station.
The Trail:
I actually decided to do this after a walk along the Jordan River Parkway, so here is the entrance from that trail.
Seven Gables.
I didn’t go inside any of the shops today, not that I would have or could have taken pictures if I did.
The Great Escape.
One of two pedestrian covered bridges over this little pond. This one is more east, so we’ll call it the east one.
Inside.
The cute little pond, and the west bridge.
Closer view of the west bridge.
We’ll come back to these.
One of the restrooms next to Chocolate Covered Wagon.
The other side of the Chocolate Covered Wagon.
Some other old buildings.
The Gathering Place.
Big red barn.
Happy Camper Deli and Bakery.
The front of The Gathering Place.
Flowering trees.
The big red barn again.
Which is a furniture store called Down to Earth.
Another cute little alley.
What in the world?
Look at the size of these flowers! I have never seen flowers on a tree this large.
Hand for scale.
Google lens is telling me magnolia. Wow! I guess I have just never seen one flowering up close before now. Super pretty. I want one.
Old bell of some sort. I walked all the way around it looking for a plaque of some sort, but no dice.
More shops.
Outdoor seating.
Mountains above.
More restrooms.
Neat old water tower.
Spigot over a water wagon that says: ‘And remember, you can’t sell from an empty wagon’.
‘Archibald’s Water Works. Clean & Clear’.
I am sur there is some story to this, but again, no plaque.
With the tower again.
Cute Easter decorations.
A much smaller pond.
With a little waterfall.
The Train Shoppe. It looks like they have a train on the outside that is covered up. Darn. I would have liked to see that. I like trains.
Further west is Ricochet Canyon, Little Buckaroo Petting Zoo (both are kiddie areas) and a Lets Play indoor soccer. None of them sound too neat, so I stayed to the main little village center.
I’m not sure what this is, but it looks kind of like a witches hut.
Fun directory sign.
It looks like I might have missed a couple of other things to see. Meh, guess I will have to come back.
Neat old cabin.
Not sure what this is, but it is neat.
The main alley.
Neat old British telephone box.
Old outhouse.
The alley again.
Refined, a gift shop I believe.
I noticed a historical plaque on this one.
Twin Historic Cabins. This building is parts of two separate cabins combined into one. One from Rush Valley, and one from St. Johns. The back section was built in 1876 and was donated to Gardner Village in 1990.
Spoiled Rotten.
I noticed another historical plaque on this one.
The Dawson House, built in 1933, it was originally located on 1114 South Redwood Road., relocated here in 1990. Fun.
Back to Chocolate Covered Wagon. I noticed another historical plaque.
The Welby Train Station. Originally located in Welby, Utah, it was dedicated here in 1991. It is a shame they did not post how old it is. But now that they mention it was a train station, I can totally see it. Super cool.
I had to do a little digging, I guess Welby was a town in western West Jordan, starting around 1905. The last major buildings, the school and store were raised in 1928. So, if I am understanding this correctly, that means the building was built in 1905.
Back to the green east bridge.
The pond and the west bridge.
Closer.
Canada goose.
The smaller east bridge again.
Using google maps, this one is about 20 feet long. and looks to be maybe 3 feet high.
The larger west bridge.
Again, using google maps, this one is about 34 feet long. And appears to be about 5 feet up.
More shops.
The west bridge again.
From one of the ends.
Inside.
The pond and the east bridge.
Closer.
West end of the pond.
Neat circular stone arch. Again, I am sure this is significant, but no plaque.
Duckies.
I am pretty sure this is the neat log cabin I saw earlier. This time though, I noticed the historical plaque.
Orson Albert Johnson Cabin.
Originally built in 1886 in Clover, Utah. It was relocated here in 1986. It is a rare hand-hewn, two story log cabin.
The other side of what I dubbed to be a witches hut.
Flowering tree of some sort.
Some boutique.
Another historical plaque.
The Brady House. Originally located not too far from here at all on 8920 South and 1300 East, in an area once known as Bradyville, Later Fort Union, and now Midvale. The buildings architecture dates back to the 1930s (I guess the exact age is not known? or at least not posted). It too was relocated here in 1990.
Both of the neat circular stone arches.
More fun Easter decoration is an old timey looking fenced in garden.
Outside of another very old looking cabin, called The Cottage. I did not see a historical marker on this one.
Archibald's Restaurant. I did not get close enough to see if there were any historical markers, but this building is significant enough to warrant it’s own wiki article.
The Gardner Mill, built in 1877. built by Archibald Gardner. it is the only surviving mill in Utah that is documented to be built by him. Gardner Village was built up around it.
So unlike the rest of the historic buildings, this one is in it's original location.
I wish I had gotten a little closer as it seems there might be more to it, and it a pretty old building. But, meh, next time.
Mr. Gardner was also responsible for digging the North Jordan Canal in 1850 (skirting the west side of the property) which splits from the Jordan River about 2.5 miles south of here to power the the 15 foot power wheel at Gardner Mill. It eventually was expanded into Taylorsville to provide irrigation water.
Its kind of fun when historical stuff connects.
Wait, a second. is this his actual gravesite, or just a historical marker?
‘In Memory of Archibald Gardner.
Born at Kilsyth, Stirlingshire Scotland
Sept. 2. 1814
Died in SLC, Feb 8 1902’
Okay, according to findagrave, he is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, so this is just an historical marker. Still kind of neat.
One of the circular archways.
Another old outhouse looking building. I don’t know for sure, but I would guess this is some kind of utility for the pond.
The red, west bridge. And you can see the green, east bridge through it.
Again.
The other circular archway.
Little arbor.
The mill again with an old windmill.
Old wagon.
Park sign.
The Gardner Mill.
Which has been refurbished into Archibald’s Grill (a nice throwback to Archibald Gardner) and a furniture store.
We have only been inside once, briefly. We deemed the wait to be too long and decided to eat elsewhere, so I can’t really say if they are any good or not, but maybe we will try again sometime. It was their busy season.
I suspect these are random mill components.
Mill Plaza has a large waterwheel. I am not sure if it is the original one or not though.
Closer. It does look to be about the right size, and also old, so it could be the original.
Ducks near the pond above.
The waterwheel again. You can see the water dripping off of it.
The water source is split here, part going to the wheel, part just going into the creek.
Again, half of the original mill site is Archibald’s. The other half is a furniture store called CF Home.
More of the diverted creek.
Above.
Random water tower? across the way.
These look quite similar to the trailers we found on Antelope Island.
We found another random covered pedestrian bridge that crosses the North Jordan Canal. Meh, as far as covered pedestrian bridges go this is not the most exciting. However, it is neat to see another one.
Inside.
Downstream. The canal is quite dry right now. But, we are at least a few weeks before farming season I think. This is the canal I mentioned above that Archibald and his brother dug here from upstream on the Jordan River.
Upstream.
Information on the Jordan River Parkway. I am curious about the proposed Nature Study Area with an observation point. I walk this section often, and it would appear that area has not come into fruition yet.
Old monument with millstones I think?
Closer.
West side.
Again.
You can see the light for the crossing just below here.
From the south side. It looks like the informative sign is gone. Dang, I was hoping to learn what this was.
Again.
It looks like some of the descendants are memorialized here.
Sign about the North Jordan Canal.
Which is quite dry right now.
The West Jordan Settlement.
West Jordan industry.
Neat old light posts.
Back to the meh covered bridge. Google is saying it is about 16 feet long, but that seems a little longer than it looks. But, alright. Its also is about 8 feet up or so.
The old mill. Not to be confused with The Old Mill below Big Cottonwood Canyon.
No swimming or tuning sign, that is quite faded.
Currently, there is nothing to swim or tube in.
I decided to follow the canal for a bit, looking for the pond one of the signs mentioned.
A look into the back farm area.
Duckies!
I think the pond may be back there (spoiler, it is).
Horses and ponies.
Killdeer.
This old train car is super neat! I wonder why they are not displaying it in the main area.
Front.
Canada geese.
Well, I found the pond. It looks a little gross.
The indoor soccer stadium across the way.
The pond again.
Alright. I saw the pond, I think it’s time to head back.
The train car again.
“Boxcar Joe a 1900’s railroad passenger car” Again, I don’t understand why this is not on display in the main village.
The killdeer again.
The back farm again.
Some lilac. Man, I miss having a lilac bush in my yard.
The meh covered bridge again.
Another direction sign and another wagon.
Neat lights.
Pine needles. Which appears to be a fabric/quilting shop.
The Train Shoppe.
With the train. I guess they just cover the engine.
The Crystal Fairy is a neat mystical shop.
Oh, it is historical too. It was built in 1898. No information on where it originated, but from the story, I imagine somewhere in the Salt Lake Valley.
A lot of the benches look like train stop benches. I wonder if they all came from the Welby Train Station that they moved here.
Fun flowering tree.
The Train Shoppe again.
Little pond again.
Easter decorations.
The west covered bridge.
The Cottage. The historical plaque is a little hidden under the left window here, normally they are closer to the doorway. So that explains why I missed it earlier.
It is the St. Joer/Orr Cabin. It was moved to Gardner Village in 1989, moved here from Clover/Rush Valley. The year created is not listed unfortunately but it looks pretty dang old!
Archibald’s again.
The windmill.
With a little wagon.
Camera Shy Photography.
Which is in the Historic Henderson House.
Built in 1863. No other useful information.
As per usual in Utah, sadly they care a lot more about the cult, than actual history.
Soulstice Day Spa and Salon. I did not notice any historical signs here.
Cute covered wagon.
Better shot of the archway from the Jordan River Trail.
Well, that was kind of neat. I am sure I missed at least a few historical markers, but I know there are a lot that are not there at all, which is kind of a shame. Like I said, its more of a strip mall, than a historical place, but I will give them props for preserving some historical stuff. I particularly enjoyed the pond and the covered pedestrian bridges. It was pretty much after most of the shops had closed, so it wasn’t very busy, which is a nice change versus the holiday events we have been too. Meh, 6 out of 10 squirrels today.
As for difficulty, it is pretty flat, and paved. DR2.
Dogs are allowed on the grounds, but must remain leashed, and well in control of the owners.
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