Fisher Park, Greensboro, North Carolina

Fisher Park is a neighborhood in the north central section of the United States city of Greensboro, North Carolina. Captain Basil J. Fisher turned a swamp into Greensboro's most fashionable Gilded Era address in 1901 when he donated the lowlands for a city park that bears his name. Residents took full advantage of ample lots overlooking the park by commissioning the city's best architects to design sometimes palatial homes. The neighborhood is recognized as Greensboro's first suburb, and is the city's most popular historic district.

Geography

Boundaries

Fisher Park is bounded as follows:

  • on the north by Wendover Avenue;
  • on the west by the Green Hill Cemetery;
  • on the east by the Southern Railway tracks; and
  • on the south by the central business district and Smith Street.

ZIP code

The 27401 ZIP code corresponds entirely or almost entirely with Fisher Park.

History
Fisher Park Historic District

With the establishment of the convenient trolley line through the heart of the neighborhood in 1902, industrialists, bankers, and professionals erected homes based on popular national styles such as Frank Lloyd Wright-influenced Prairie School style, California-based American Craftsman style, and New England-inspired Colonial Revival styles. The district remained the epicenter of Greensboro's cultural elite until it was overshadowed by Irving Park, just a mile to the north. The Fisher Park Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, with a boundary increase in 1996.[1]

The 1950s and 60s brought challenges to the neighborhood bordering Greensboro's center city as office development threatened to replace historic homes. Efforts to regulate development and change advanced in 1982 when the neighborhood was designated as Greensboro's second historic district. Since then, the rate of destruction of historic homes has slowed (but not halted), the park has received a much needed make-over, and land values have spiraled upwards.

Fisher Park remains a popular destination for city residents who walk the tree-lined streets and lush park during lunchtime, attend occasional house tours, and enjoy a shaded diversion during summer heat. The district enjoys a wide diversity of private historic homes, some dating back to the nineteenth century, such as The Elms at 220 Fisher Avenue, the Dixon-Leftwich-Murphy House at 507 Church Street, and the Cumming House at 908 Cherry Street. Other houses represent a broader spectrum of twentieth century styles, including the Tudor-style John Marion Galloway House at 1007 North Elm Street, the prairie-styled Latham-Baker House at 412 Fisher Park Circle, the Classical Revival-style Henry C. Simpson House at 117 East Hendrix Street (circa 1906) and the charming Spanish-style Casa Sevilla Apartments on Bessemer Court (all private).[2][3]

Parks and public spaces
  • Fisher Park
  • Green Hill cemetery

Notable architects and builders

Other notable civic institutions

On the National Register of Historic Places

Fisher Park National Register Historic District

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Marvin A. Brown (December 1992). "Fisher Park Historic District" (pdf). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 2014-11-01.
  3. Jo Ramsay Leimenstoll (April 1996). "Fisher Park Historic District (Boundary Increase)" (pdf). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 2014-11-01.
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