It’s possible that the first card showed the original design; there are similarities in height, the cornice, window placement, string course, etc. But the first card showed the building in the middle of the block; it actually occupies the corner.

The Gardner owes its life to a change of mind. Here's the story, paraphrased from "A Century Together," the official history of Fargo: businessman O. J. deLendrecie was wintering in Florida with some chums, and mentioned that he'd decided to sell his store. HIs buddies put together a syndicate to buy the store - but then O. J. decided not to sell. What now? Beat O. J. in an alley until he handed over the deed with trembling hands? Hardly; this was Fargo,  not Deadwood, and these were gentlemen.

What to do with the money they’d raised? Why, a hotel, of course. The finest in the Upper Northern Midwest! The grandest between Minneapolis and Spokane! Steam heat! Fireproof! (Warning: hotel may not survive actual fire.) The syndicate named it after Frank Gardner, one of the men in the group. It could have been worse; one of the other investors was named Leach, and the Leach Hotel sounds as inviting as the Remora Inn or Tapeworm Manor.

Gardner is a good hotel name, and the building reflects this: it has heft. It's stolid. It's dull. It has a peculiar gravity that dampens the street. Of course I don't know what it was like in its prime, but by the time I came along it was old, cold, and dark. I recall driving by on a Sunday morning and seeing old men in the lobby, sitting in big chairs, and somehow it made the place seem horribly sad.