Gardner's Crossing, Unincorporated

Gardner's Crossing is a growing town in unincorporated territory on the Central Plains of Sinisterra. It is one of the major settlements on the foremost East-to-West highway through the Northern section of the Central Plains from the Republic of Estrelonia to the Imperial Federation of Novaris and vice versa.

History

The town is established on the banks of the river Tureinga. The site was orginally found by Colonel Charles Gardner of the Imperial Army of Novaris in 1857 as an outpost and resupply base on his exploration expedition headed East. It became the place where Gardner first crossed the river Tureinga and was hence called Gardner's Crossing. Given it's abundance of fresh water as well as suitable grazing grounds for cattle it soon became something of an interest to Novari nationals wanting to settle in relatively quiet and uncontrolled territory.
While remaining a mostly military supply base with a minor trading post until 1869, it was in that year that the Novari government granted Gardner permission to establish a civilian settlement under his authority. Having supported the area for the past 12 years, the locals that had lived in the area for some time now, proposed to name the settlement Gardner's Crossing in his honour. Soon the first saloon, general store, hotel and livery were established in the settlement.
By his own request Gardner was relieved of his military duties in 1871 while remaining the civil representative for the settlement with his name. He turned the settlement into a prosperous small town over the years that followed with relatively little government involvement, built on relatively progressive and open minded ideals. As a result it became an attractive place to settle for free spirited individuals from both Novaris and Estrelonia, as well as a trade hub that could hold itself against the much larger towns on major trade routes through the Estado de Independencia.
In 1874 the Gardner's Race Course was build and the first race was held. Being in a central location between the two major powers of Sinisterra as well as close to the prosperous independent Estado de Independencia, it attracted a mixed crowd of both racers and onlookers. The favourable conditions and climate in spring saw horses and jockeys set personnal records, making in an attractive race location for horse race-enthousiasts and gamblers alike. It has now grown into a significant event, rare for a location as remote as Gardner's Crossing.
By 1875 the town had grown to well over 1.000 residents and started becoming a viable hub for a Northern coast-to-coast railway line. The harsh conditions of the Central Plains had long seen railroad companies delay their initiatives to build a more direct railline between the Northern parts of both Novaris and Estrelonia. However with the extensive explorations by Gardner and the establishment of a prosperous and central town, a window of opportunity opened for new railway expansions. The Novari railroad companies [placeholder railroad company] and [placeholder railroad company] started building their lines towards Gardner's Crossing in 1779, while the Estrelonian based [placeholder railroad company] started its own but much shorter line in 1881. The latter project got a slight delay when valuable resources were discovered in the nearby settlement of Colchester Hills and a reroute was suddenly desired by [placeholder railroad company].

Geopolitical Tension

Gardner's Crossing is in a difficult position from multiple points of view.

Conflict of Incorporation

Up to this day Gardner's Crossing is neither incorporated into the Imperial Federation of Novaris, nor into the Republic of Estrelonia.

Trade Hub Competition

While Gardner's Crossing was always seen as something of an economic competitor to the interests of the Estado de Independencia, without a railway line it was never viewed as really being able to compete properly with the trade routes through the independent state. With the railway expected to finish this year however, goods that are being transported from the Northern half of Novaris to the Northern half of Estrelonia will have a much shorter and more attractive route to be transported over.

Directory & Points of Interest

The map in the top right shows the key points of interest around the town of Gardner's Crossing. The directory below lists these same points of interest while also providing a link to more detailed articles about some of these.

Gardner's Crossing Directory

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Novari Quarter	Estrelonian Quarter	Rail Quarter	Hill Quarter
Bennett’s Surgery	Almanza Barber & Dentist	Barrientos' Armas	Vista Colina Hotel & Restaurant
Central Frontier Telegraph Company	Cantina La Fiesta	Bozkir Bar	Mayor's Residence
Federal Express Company	Clínica Hermanas de la Frontera	Gardner's Crossing Central Station	The Magnolia Mansion
First Bank of Tureinga	Compañía Estreloniana de Telégrafos Eléctricos	Gardner's Crossing Transloading Yard
Gardner Central Inn	El Imparcial	Imperial Theater
Gardner Central Inn Stable	Estrelonian Trade Office	La Perle Interdite
Gardner’s Crossing Town Hall	Gardner Race Course	Rousseau Exchange
Little Creek Lodge	Gardner Western Central Bank
Marshal’s Office & Jail	Hacienca Tureinga
McMahon’s Weapon Store	Hacienda Tureinga Corral
Moliner General Store	Morata Hardware
Novari Trade Office	Paredes Sastrería
Sheridan’s Stable & Wainwright	Posada del Rio
The Boots Saloon	Senderos Fronterizo
The Crossing’s Gazette	Tureinga Sawmill
The Grand Crossing Hotel & Restaurant
Wild Shots Saloon
Witherspoon Outfits
Wortley’s Barber & Dentist

Railroad Connection

When the plan to build a railroad connection through Gardner's Crossing was initiated, local administrators and influential businessmen set out to convince the parties involved from both the Novari and Estrelonian side to agree upon a single track gauge. Historically Estrelonia designed its track as a Four-foot gauge system while Novaris choose a Five-foot broad gauge system that allowed for heavier transports. Long talks that took until well into 1877 eventually concluded the parties involved were not at all likely to ever agree upon a single gauge. As a result companies from both states started designing their own systems with Gardner's Crossing accepting it was gonna be the centre of a Break of Gauge.
Building of the Five-foot tracks towards the West is well underway and the Novari companies plan and hope to connect both ends of the track before the winter of 1882. The Four-foot track coming in from the east has suffered delays however with the company involved having decided upon a reroute partway through building the line. It is now diverting the track through Colchester Hills, even though the track could be completed much earlier if the old route was held onto. It is unsure at this time when [placeholder railroad company] expects to deliver a connected track from Gardner's Crossing to the Republic of Estrelonia.

Type

Town

Population

~2800

Owner/Ruler

Jordan Oakwood