Gardiner is an unincorporated community in Douglas County, Oregon, United States, across the Umpqua River from Reedsport. It is located on U.S. Route 101. Gardiner is named for a Boston merchant whose ship, the Bostonian, shipwrecked at the mouth of the Umpqua on October 1, 1850. Gardiner was seeking to trade along the river, and most of his goods were saved from the ship and moved to the location that came to be the town of Gardiner. In 1851, the site became the headquarters of the Umpqua customs district, and a post office named "Gardiners City" was established the same year. The name of the post office changed to "Gardiner City" and eventually to its current name. The Gardiner Historic District, which dates to 1870, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1994. Several steamboats were constructed at Gardiner for trade up the Umpqua River. A lumber mill opened in Gardiner in 1954. Gardiner was formerly the site of the first International Paper mill on the West Coast. The paper mill operated from 1963 until 1999, and was one of the largest employers on the southern Oregon Coast. The mill buildings were demolished in 2006. A railroad, Longview, Portland & Northern (LP&N), served the IP mill until it closed. The railroad runs from East Gardiner Junction to the old plant site. LP&N plans to resume operations in 2007 at the same location.