[1][2] Nikumaroro has notably been the focus of considerable speculation and exploration as a possible location where pilot Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan might have landed in July 1937 when they vanished during their ill-fated flight to circumnavigate the globe.

[5] The scarcity of fresh water on Nikumaroro has proven problematic for residents in the past, and contributed directly to the failure of a British project to colonize the island from 1938 to 1963.

In contrast to the leeward side, very little loose coral rubble was found with the majority of bare surfaces covered by encrusting coralline algae in shallow water.

The introduction of iron to this environment from shipwrecks and anchor gear is linked to proliferation of turf algae and benthic bacterial communities, and degraded ‘black reefs’.

[12][13] Monitoring from 2000 to 2015 recorded the black reef originating at the 1929 wreck of the SS Norwich City on Nikumaroro progressing northward to sites 1 kilometre (1 mi) away.

[15] The ancient settlements on nearby Manra and Orona Island were probably founded around 1000 BC, when eastern Melanesians are known to have travelled northwards across the water.

[17] There is evidence to suggest that Howland Island was the site of a prehistoric settlement, which may have extended down to Rawaki, Canton, Manra and Orona - and possibly Nikumaroro.

Exploring Expedition confirmed its position and recorded the atoll's name as Gardner Island, originally given in 1825 by Joshua Coffin of the Nantucket whaler Ganges.

[5] Twenty-nine islanders were settled there and some structures with corrugated iron roofs were constructed, but a severe drought resulted in the failure of this project within a year.

[5] During a storm on 29 November 1929, the SS Norwich City, a large unladen British freighter with a crew of 35 men, ran aground on the reef at the island's northwest corner.

The devastated wreck of the Norwich City was a prominent landmark on the reef for 70 years, although by 2007, only the ship's keel, engine, and two large tanks remained.

[21] Amelia Earhart attempted her world flight in 1937, but she and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared after the plane left Lae, New Guinea, and headed for Howland Island.

TIGHAR found and cataloged artifacts: U.S. beauty and skin-care products that may have dated to the 1930s, such as flakes of rouge and a shattered mirror from a woman's cosmetic compact,[23] parts of a folding pocket knife, traces of campfires bearing bird and fish bones, clams opened in the same way as oysters in New England, "empty shells laid out as if to collect rain water", and U.S. bottles dating from before World War II.

"[27] Ocean explorer Robert Ballard led a 2019 expedition to locate Earhart's Lockheed Model 10-E Electra or evidence that it landed on Nikumaroro.

After days of searching the deep cliffs supporting the island and the nearby ocean, Ballard did not find any evidence of the plane or any associated wreckage of it.

"[6] In their October 2019 documentary, "Expedition Amelia" tracing Robert Ballard's efforts, National Geographic stated regarding the Gardner Island (Nikumaroro) hypothesis, "It’s a nice story.

Wide coral-gravel streets and a parade ground were laid out and important structures included a thatched administration house, a wood-frame cooperative store, and a radio shack.

[29] From 1944 through 1945, the United States Coast Guard operated a navigational LORAN station with 25 crewmen on the southeastern tip of Gardner, installing an antenna system, quonset huts, and some smaller structures.

The island's population reached a high of about 100 by the mid-1950s, but by the early 1960s, periodic drought and an unstable freshwater lens had thwarted the struggling colony.

That same year, the United States, after having recently surveyed the island for possible weapons testing, relinquished any claims to Gardner through the Treaty of Tarawa.