Fisher-Martin House prior to its move to Lewes

Thomas Fisher built this Dutch Colonial-style home on 500-acre White Meadow Farm in the 1730s.  It was located on what is now known as Fisher Road in the Cool Spring area.

Restoration specialist and Lewes resident Jack Vessels led an effort in 1980 which resulted in the historic structure being moved to the park behind Zwaanendael Museum.  There, Vessels and others restored the building and added modern features such as indoor plumbing and electricity so it could be used as home to Lewes Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau. The sturdy old building, coming now onto its 300th anniversary, continues to serve as chamber headquarters.

Thomas Fisher was father to Joshua Fisher, who became a successful Philadelphia merchant and advisor to the pilots who guided ships up and down Delaware River and Bay. Joshua Fisher was also a cartographer and drew one of the earliest navigational charts for Delaware Bay.  That early chart shows the many menacing shoals lurking beneath the waters of the lower bay that bedeviled early mariners in Delaware.