In 1870, Garner was platted by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway and was incorporated in 1881 with a population of 321 at that time.

[5] In the early days of Hancock County the court house was located approximately one mile south of Garner in what was known as Concord.

Soon after, John Maben, under the auspices of the Board of Supervisors built two small wooden buildings in an area they called "Hancock Center."

In 1898 the town of Britt located a few miles to the west launched a campaign to relocate the County Seat to their town; a plan that was never instituted after some legal intervention by a group of attorneys.

The town celebration gets its name from Frederick and August Duesenberg.

The Duesenberg brothers had their meager beginning in a bicycle shop on Main Street in Garner but went on to found Duesenberg Motors Company (sometimes referred to as "Duesy"), an American manufacturer of race cars and luxury automobiles.

Garner is located at 43°5′53″N 93°36′15″W / 43.09806°N 93.60417°W / 43.09806; -93.60417 (43.098189, -93.604028),[7] on the East Branch Iowa River.According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.06 square miles (5.34 km2), all land.

There were 1,406 housing units at an average density of 661.6 per square mile (255.4/km2).

Hispanic or Latino persons of any race comprised 3.9% of the population.

32.1% of all households were made up of individuals, 17.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years old or older.

There were 1,380 housing units at an average density of 669.9 per square mile (258.6/km2).

There were 1,252 housing units at an average density of 599.3 per square mile (231.4/km2).