In the  Fishers city logo (shown above) you will see it lists Fishers as established in 1872.  Yet, the Town of Fishers was not incorporated by state law until 1891.  Why are we celebrating the 150-year sesquicentennial anniversary now?

That’s because of a man named Salathial Fisher.  The Treaty of St. Mary’s in 1818 turned the land around what we now know as Fishers from the local Native American tribe to the government.  Salathial Fisher bought the land and had it platted in 1872, creating a place called Fisher’s Switch.  The “switch” comes from the railroad switch that ran through the area.

The local post office apparently thought Fisher’s Switch was too long and just decided to drop the apostrophe, and the name became Fishers Switch.  The “Switch” part was eliminated in 1908 and we were then known as the Town of Fishers.

The story of William Conner and how he started the commercial development of this area with the first trading post is fascinating.

There is so much more history to this place we call Fishers.  That is why I am partnering with the city to produce a series of podcasts with people that either know this history or lived it themselves.

I had the chance to speak with Mayor Scott Fadness and the city’s Director of Public Relations, Ashley Elrod, to begin the discussion and we just touched the surface of our local history.

Stay tuned for more podcasts in the coming months celebrating the 150-year history of Fishers.

A link to the podcast with Scott Fadness and Ashley Elrod is below.