The Fisher House, at 227 South Pleasant Street in Amherst, was built in 1830, possibly by brick mason Hiram Johnson. The house was used as a school by the Nelson sisters, but opinion is divided as to whether or not Emily Dickinson attended school there or not in 1837. Amherst College purchased the house from Anna A. Fisher, wife of G. Edward Fisher, in 1917 and it served for a time as a student residence. It is now a single family home.
In 1780, Colonel Elijah Dickinson of Amherst married Jerusha Smith. Jerusha’s grandfather, Dr. Nathaniel Smith, had moved from Hadley about 1730 to become the first physician to practice in Amherst. He built a log cabin, next to what would later become College Hill, and eventually replaced the cabin with a new house, painted yellow. This house was moved to South Pleasant Street to make way for a new Federal-style house, built by Col. Dickinson in 1810. Dickinson gave the land on which Amherst College would be built. The house was later owned by John White. Known as the White Homestead, it was purchased by Amherst College from the White Family in 1924. It served as the College’s Faculty Club and was later converted to become the Wilson Admission Center, named for former Dean of Admission Eugene S. Wilson.