614 - Former Governors' Mansion - Asa and Addie Fischer

This was originally the private home of the Fisher family: Asa, his wife Adelaide or “Addie,” and her daughter, Lillian. The story of how it became the governor’s mansion is one of considerable loss and hardship.

The Fishers chose to build their house in “stick style,” which had long been trendy among East Coast elites for their seaside cottages. Note the highlighted framework or “stickwork” of dark green trim boards, which were meant to evoke European half-timbered houses. Folksy floral decorations and a profusion of mini balconies faintly recall a Swiss chalet. Asa had made his fortune in wholesale liquor sales, banking, and real estate, and this house helped him project both comfort and sophistication. It must have looked striking against the prairie grasses on the north edge of town.

The Bismarck Tribune raved about the house’s fine walnut and oak woodwork, high-tech steam heat, and hot and cold running water. Evidently the Fishers loved to show it off, because later issues mention many glittering parties here attended by Dakota Territory’s most prominent citizens. Most elegant of all was step-daughter Lillian’s wedding to Richard Wheelock in the big east bay window in 1886.

But the good times did not last forever. In 1892, Asa and several rivals vied for control of Bismarck’s largest bank. Asa stretched his finances to the breaking point to buy as many shares as possible, but his timing couldn’t be worse. Within weeks, the Panic of 1893 began to devastate banks across the country. Meanwhile the rivalry erupted into a lawsuit. One or more of these woes were likely the reason he sold the mansion to the state that May for $4,500. The Fisher’s moved out into a former minister’s home. Perhaps it was also in desperation that Asa foreclosed on Lillian and Richard’s farm in 1895. In 1896, Asa finally gave up on life in Bismarck and moved to Cripple Creek, CO, for a new start. His wife Addie did not join him.