Town of Fishers City Map Poster

About Town of Fishers

Fishers was founded in 1820 by James G. Birney, a Presbyterian minister who helped slaves escape through the Underground Railroad. He named it for his friend and fellow abolitionist, William Fessenden Fisher of New York. The town was platted as "Birney's Station" and originally called "New Jerusalem." It had a post office from 1821 until 1906; when its name officially changed to Fishers in 1908, the town's population had grown to about 1,000 people (according to an article published that year). The first schoolhouse was built on land donated by Birney himself; it is now part of Heritage Park at Centerpoint Church off 131st Street between Cumberland Road and Lantern Road/State Route 37 (formerly Meridian Street).