Fisher Park Walking Tour

From Gothic to Post Modern, North Carolina's classic streetcar suburb has it all

Fisher Park Walking Tour

Greensboro, North Carolina 27401, United States

Created By: Preservation Greensboro

Tour Information

Captain Basil J. Fisher turned a swamp into Greensboro's most fashionable Gilded Era address in 1902 when he donated lowlands for a city park that bears his name. Residents took full advantage of ample lots overlooking the park by commissioning notable architects to design sometimes palatial houses. The neighborhood is recognized as Greensboro's first suburb, and is the city's most popular historic district.

With the establishment of the convenient trolley line through the heart of the neighborhood by 1909, industrialists, bankers, and professionals erected homes based on popular national styles such as Frank Lloyd Wright-influenced Prairie style, Asian-influenced Craftsmen style, and New England-inspired Colonial Revival styles. The district remained the epicenter of Greensboro's elite until it was overshadowed by Irving Park, just a mile to the north.

The 1950s and 60s brought challenges to the neighborhood bordering Greensboro's center city as the development of office buildings threatened to replace historic homes. Efforts to regulate development 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 wooded park during lunchtime and enjoy shaded yards full of flowering annuals and perennials in the evenings. The district contains a diversity of private historic homes, some dating to the nineteenth century. Most of the houses in the neighborhood remain privately owned, so please respect their privacy!


Tour Map

Loading Tour

 

What You'll See on the Tour

Captain Basil John Fisher was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1851.  Little is known of his life before his military career. He was a member of the 5th Battalion Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own), an esteemed regiment of the British ... Read more
Fisher Park's three religious structures stand within a block of each other on North Greene Street. All were built in the 1920s according to plans supplied by New York City architect Hobart Upjohn.  The Neoclassical Revival style was selec... Read more
Fisher Park's three religious structures stand within a block of each other on North Greene Street. All were built in the 1920s according to plans supplied by New York City architect Hobart Upjohn.  Across the street from the Temple (1923)... Read more
The Latham-Baker House was commissioned in 1908 by James Edwin Latham, a Greensboro cotton broker who was prominent in the civic development of the city throughout the early twentieth century. Latham’s wife, Maud Moore Latham, and their d... Read more
This Neoclassical Revival house was begun in 1907 by architect Richard Gambier for insurance executive George Grimsley.  Overlooking Greensboro’s Fisher Park, the two-story frame house features a stone foundation, a broad porch of Ionic ... Read more
Hillside stands in Greensboro’s Fisher Park neighborhood on a prominent site overlooking the park itself. Constructed in 1929 by founder and president of Jefferson Life Insurance Company Julian Price, the sprawling residence is an example... Read more
The Lindeman House has a remarkable past. Its builder and at least two subsequent owners were capable women with a statewide influence in historic preservation. The house was designed by architect Harry J. Simmonds and built in 1926 at a co... Read more
Whether it’s the “Three Bears’ House” or “Cinderella’s House,” people who know the Thompson House are enchanted by its fanciful Old World style. It stands as a well-preserved example of Period Revival architecture in the neigh... Read more
The Felder House was constructed around 1919 by H. H. Felder, the president of the Felder-Briggs Company menswear store in downtown Greensboro. The Felder family only occupied the home for two years before selling it to Helen and W. S. Dick... Read more
Standing prominently on its hilltop lot, the Julius R. Pitts House at 114 West Bessemer Avenue is a classic example of Colonial Revival architecture. In March 1927, the Greensboro Daily News reported, “J.R. Pitts will build a $19,000 resi... Read more
Constructed in 1919, the Galloway House is an early example of the English Tudor Period Revival style designed by prolific and prominent local architect Harry Barton. The grand façade incorporates details such as fieldstone, rough-hewn fal... Read more
The Sellars House at 917 North Elm Street is among Greensboro’s earliest examples of Craftsman architecture. It stands along a section of North Elm Street once reckoned to be Greensboro’s Gold Coast, and also features an interesting lin... Read more
The Minnie Lyon and Frank Leak house was built in 1913, designed by one of Greensboro’s esteemed architects, J.H. Hopkins. It has been vacant and the victim of neglect for ten years. The house was purchased in 2017 by the Preservation Gre... Read more
On June 3rd, 1920, the Greensboro Daily News reported that Hill Hunter was issued a permit for a $20,000 residence to be located at the corner of Hendrix and Carolina streets. Hill Hunter was born in 1882 in Oxford NC, and he attended State... Read more
Located in Greensboro’s Fisher Park neighborhood, this Colonial Revival residence prominently sited overlooking Fisher Park was constructed around 1913 for Edgar D. Broadhurst, a Justice of the Peace and superintendent of public schools. ... Read more
The residence at 104 Fisher Park Circle is among the earliest in Greensboro to exemplify Craftsman architecture. The Craftsman “Bungalow” style began in southern California, where South Asian and East Asian features blended to create ex... Read more
Greensboro is a city that appreciates its past, and that sense of history is well demonstrated in the story of the King Chair. The chair was constructed in the backyard of the home of master stone mason Andrew Leopold Schlosser, a native of... Read more
When William A. J. Hewitt and his wife Jessie bought the prominent lot at the corner of North Elm Street and Fisher Park Circle in 1914, few houses stood in the surrounding neighborhood. Their grand two-story home with a soaring portico set... Read more
The city-dwellers that lived in Cannon Court enjoyed urban amenities within the heart of prestigious Fisher Park. Cannon Court is representative of pre-war housing available to modest income households in Greensboro beginning in the early t... Read more
The first occupants of the handsome brick foursquare house built in 1923 were Fannie and Michael Marks. Marks and other members of his family were the owners of Marks & Son, a clothing and shoe shop located at 346 South Elm Street. Both... Read more
The Sweeney-Penn House was constructed around 1917, possible as a speculative house by Guilford Realty. The first occupants appears to have been Madge and Roy Sweeney, who owned the home only 18 months before selling it to Sue and John Thom... Read more
Charlotte Hollingsworth and George Hammitt Walker built this grand residence in 1919. The couple named their homes, including this one, “The Eagle’s Nest” for a large statue of an eagle they placed atop one of the granite piers at the... Read more
At first blush, this Mid-Century Modern-style house stands in contrast to the Colonial and Neoclassical-style homes in the neighborhood, but look beyond the simple lines and low-pitched roof to see how the large windows and exposed woodwork... Read more
Designed by architect Carl Myatt for himself and his wife Wanda, this Postmodern design references key themes of Fisher Park architecture without mimicking historic features. The house was constructed in 1996 by interpreting the Greensboro ... Read more
“The Hobgoodery”, was the nickname of this North Park Drive home, given by its architect Raleigh James Hughes. Attorney Frank P. Hobgood and his wife Lucy commissioned the house by December 1913, when the Greensboro Daily News, announc... Read more
The “Genesis Monument” was erected by historian Jim McLamroch to recognize the geographic center of Guilford County. Surveyors were hired to identify the center of the county for the new county courthouse, but when the location was iden... Read more
The home was begun in 1909 by Arnold A. Fisher of Norfolk, Virginia, his wife Margaret Royster and their young daughter Margarette. Arnold was in the insurance business with his father-in-law George Royster. Tragically, Margaret passed away... Read more
John Dick was distantly related to the prominent Dick family who lived just up Church Street. In 1890, Dick sold his farm northeast of the village and devoted his attention to Dick’s Laundry. The establishment became the first steam laund... Read more
This handsome, two-story brick residence is one of three notable Gothic Revival-inspired designs in Greensboro. Gothic features include a steep cross-gable roofline, a clipped corner turret, lancet attic windows, and tall, narrow windows to... Read more
On the date 12-12-1912, the Greensboro Patriot newspaper announced that “Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Lyon have moved into their handsome new home in Fisher Park”. The Lyons were well known in Greensboro at the turn of the century, having previou... Read more
Fisher Park's three religious structures stand within a block of each other on North Greene Street. All were built in the 1920s according to plans supplied by New York City architect Hobart Upjohn. The first was the central block of Holy Tr... Read more
This residence was constructed for Vivian and Joseph H. Armfield in 1915. Joseph Armfield was the son of Esther and George Williamson “Will” Armfield, of Greensboro.  Will was a prominent merchant in Greensboro who began a career as an... Read more
One of three important Gothic Revival residences built in Greensboro, the Gatekeeper’s house represents an era of civic improvement in Greensboro during the late nineteenth century. Constructed in the late 1880s in association with Green ... Read more
Green Hill Cemetery opened in 1877 with 51 acres of land. It is the oldest municipal cemetery in Greensboro, though several other church affiliated burial grounds date to the mid eighteenth century. The grounds contain Greensboro’s best c... Read more

 

Leave a Comment

 


 

Download the App

Download the PocketSights Tour Guide mobile app to take this self-guided tour on your GPS-enabled mobile device.

iOS Tour Guide Android Tour Guide

 


 

Updates and Corrections

Please send change requests to changerequest@pocketsights.com.