Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 27% of U.S. towns · #499 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Most of Fishers was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Its Register listings are the West-Harris House and the William Conner House. Below: maps from 1952 on and the census since 1880.
Fishers dates its founding to 1872 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 27% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fishers is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #499 of 593 in Indiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Fishers ranks #325 on History.
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Fishers’ 0.3 sits near the middle of its state (45% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Fishers’ size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fishers’s post office has been open since 1908. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fishers’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Fishers.
In 1802, William Conner settled in territory that would eventually become Fishers. Conner built a log cabin and a trading post along the White River. The land that Conner settled is now known as Conner Prairie and is preserved as a living history museum.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Fishers, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Fishers Station or Fishers, as it is now generally called, is a small town on the Lake Erie & Western railroad between Noblesville and Indianapolis. It is the center of a farming community and has a few good stores, good schools and churches. The town was laid out by Salathiel Fisher, the original owner of the land upon which the town is now situated. It was divided into town lots by him in June, 1872.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
state. It was extended to Peru in 1854 and later to Michigan City. The early name has been changed for many years and it is now known as the Lake Erie & Western Railroad. In Hamilton county the railroad has station stops at Fishers, Noblesville, Cicero, Arcadia and Atlanta. The auditor's report for 1913 showed the following valuation of the Lake Erie & Western railroad: Main track, $310,900; side, $21,875; rolling stock, $41,466; improvements on right-of-way, $1,420. Total, $375,655.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereGary Harris is born here
Born hereZak Irvin is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fishers. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fishers.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 138 people in 1880 to 98,977 in 2020, more than tenfold.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fishers’ Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1872, according to Wikidata. Fishers’ post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1880 counted 138 people here.
Fishers is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #499 of 593 in Indiana. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Two places: the West-Harris House (listed 1999) and the William Conner House (1980).
1% of Fishers’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 2002.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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