It Support in Fishers, IN

In 1802, William Conner settled what is now 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.

Settlers started moving to the area after Indiana became a state in 1816 and the Delaware Indians gave up their claims in Indiana and Ohio to the United States government in 1818 in the Treaty of St. Mary’s. At the treaty William Conner served as an interpreter for Chief William Anderson, his father-in-law. At the time William Conner was married to Mekinges Conner, princess and daughter of Chief William Anderson. In 1823, Hamilton County was chartered by the Indiana General Assembly and Delaware Township was established and surveyed. After the state of Indiana moved its capital to Indianapolis from Corydon in 1825, the community started to grow. After the move, John Finch established a horse-powered grinding mill, a blacksmith shop, and the area’s first school. The next year the area’s first water mill was constructed.

During 1826 the West-Harris House, later nicknamed Ambassador House, was built near the White River at present-day 96th Street and Allisonville Road in Fishers. The home was moved to its present-day site at 106th Street and Eller Road in 1996. Addison C. Harris (1840-1916), a prominent Indianapolis lawyer and former member of the Indiana Senate (1876 to 1880), acquired the property in 1880 and had the home remodeled and enlarged around 1895. Harris and wife, India Crago Harris (1848-1948), used the home as a summer residence. Its nickname of Ambassador House relates to Addison Harris’s diplomatic service (1899 to 1901) as U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Austria-Hungary during President William McKinley’s administration. The restored Ambassador House is located on the grounds of Heritage Park at White River in Fishers and is operated as a local history museum and a site for community events and private rentals.