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Gardiner is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, with a population of 5,961 at the 2020 census and 2,529 households.

Gardiner was founded as Gardinerstown Plantation in 1754 by Dr. Silvester Gardiner, a prominent Boston physician and principal proprietor of the Kennebec Purchase, and it was incorporated on February 17, 1803.

Gardiner stands at the head of navigation on the Kennebec River at the confluence of the Cobbosseecontee Stream, whose falls drop 130 feet and powered the town's early mills.

Gardiner became known for exporting ice cut from the Kennebec River each winter, which was packed in sawdust and shipped throughout the United States and the world.

One of the first workable steam automobiles in America was built in Gardiner in 1858, and the city was connected by railroad in 1851.

Paper mills flourished in Gardiner beginning in the 1860s, and the commercial ice industry thrived there between the 1880s and the 1920s before the mills declined in the 1960s.

Gardiner's entire downtown historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and the city is a nationally accredited Main Street America community.

Gardiner covers 16.57 square miles, of which 15.68 square miles is land, and its ZIP codes are 04345 for Gardiner and 04359 for South Gardiner.

Gardiner is part of Maine School Administrative District 11, and its schools include Gardiner Area High School, Gardiner Regional Middle School, Laura E. Richards School, and River View Community School.

Gardiner is now largely a bedroom community for people who work in Augusta, the state capital, and at Bath Iron Works in Bath, and some residents commute as far as Portland.