DUANE
Duane's take
This one comes straight off the official marker — let me tell it to you the way it deserves to be told. Now, if you want a house that has seen the full weight of Texas history — the kind that settles into the walls and stays there — you pull up to this Victorian on Galveston Island and you listen close. Dr.
Frederick K. Fisher was born in 1852. His wife, Lucy Adelaide, née Selkirk, came into the world in 1856.
They were both from pioneer Texas families, these two, and in February of 1888 they purchased this property and had the house built that very same year. No dithering. No delay.
You get the sense these were people who made decisions and lived with them. Now, Dr. Fisher was no stranger to the Gulf Coast's dark moods.
Before he ever set foot in Galveston as a resident, he had served as State Quarantine Officer down at Indianola — a posting that put him right in the path of history, because Indianola was destroyed in the hurricane of 1886. He moved on to Galveston and continued his work as quarantine officer there. His brother Dr.
William Fisher was already in town, and the two of them shared office space. A third brother, Walter, had built a life on the island too. Walter was a pharmacist.
Then came 1900. You already know the name of that year if you know anything about Galveston. The storm that came ashore devastated Galveston Island, and the Fisher family was not spared.
Walter Fisher, his wife, and all but one of their children — killed in that storm. One child survived. That child, F.
Kenner Fisher, was taken in by Frederick and Adelaide. They adopted their orphaned nephew and raised him right here in this house, inside these walls with their jigsawn porch detailing and their turned-wood work and their imbricated shingle patterns — every last one a hallmark of the Victorian-era stick style that makes this place something worth stopping for. But the story doesn't let up.
In 1912, F. Kenner Fisher died suddenly. He was eleven years old.
Frederick and Adelaide responded to that loss the way some people do — not by turning inward, but by giving something outward. They donated land to St. Mary's Orphanage for a park in his memory.
Lucy Adelaide Fisher lived until 1939. Frederick had died in 1920. Between them they had weathered hurricanes, epidemic seasons on the Gulf, the worst natural disaster in American history, and the loss of a child they had already rescued once from grief.
The house still stands. It remains, the marker tells us, an important element in Galveston's cultural and architectural history. And now you know exactly why.
What the marker says
Dr. Frederick K. Fisher (1852-1920) and his wife Lucy Adelaide (Selkirk) (1856-1939) purchased this property in February 1888 and had this house built that same year. Both members of pioneer Texas families, the Fishers were active in local civic organizations. Dr. Fisher, who had served as State Quarantine Officer at Indianola prior to its destruction in the hurricane of 1886, continued his career as quarantine officer at Galveston following his move here. He shared office space with his brother, Dr. William Fisher. A third brother, Walter, was a pharmacist. Walter Fisher, his wife, and all but one of their children were killed during the 1900 storm which devastated Galveston Island. Frederick and Adelaide Fisher adopted their orphaned nephew, F. Kenner Fisher, and reared him in this house. After his sudden death at age 11 in 1912, they donated land to St. Mary's Orphanage for a park in his memory. A fine local example of the Victorian-era stick style of architecture, the Fisher house exhibits hallmark features of the style, including jigsawn and turned-wood porch detailing and imbricated shingle work. It remains an important element in Galveston's cultural and architectural history. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1992