Fisher, one of Clark County's oldest communities, finally is starting to grow.

When the Fisher's Grange was organized in 1907, there were so few members that R.A. Manary paid the dues for 13 other members just so the Grange would not have to forfeit its charter.

Today, the Grange on Northeast 164th Avenue has a membership of about 700 and is growing, according to Irv Hopfe, who just took over as master.

"Cascade Park (a huge housing development) is pushing in from the west," said Hopfe, who has been a member of the Grange about 35 years.

The community, known variously over the years as Fisher's Landing, Fisher's, Fishers and Fisher, is named for one Solomon W. Fisher, an early-day trader and first postmaster.

Fisher, as it is listed now on county maps, dates back to Feb. 10, 1851, when William and Jemima Simmons filed a donation land claim. The Simmons property ran from the Columbia River north along 164th Avenue to the Mill Plain area.

Mary Simmons Gentry, granddaughter of the original homesteaders, said her grandparents had been married in Virginia in 1839 and headed for the goldfields of California in 1850.

On their way West, Mrs. Gentry said, they ran into so many 49ers returning with empty pockets that they turned their oxen team north, toward the Oregon country.

Both William, who died in 1878, and Jemima, who died in 1867, are buried in the pioneer Fisher Cemetery, which overlooks the Columbia River just south of the Old Evergreen Highway. Other graves in this cemetery date back to 1852.

The original settlement was known as Fisher's Landing and a post office was established there May 21, 1858. Solomon Fisher, a trader, operated the post office until 1870, when it was closed.

In 1880, residents of the area petitioned for another post office, and in 1881 one was opened, again with Fisher as postmaster. It was named Fisher's, and in 1894 the name was shortened to Fisher. The post office was closed in 1917.

Mrs. Gentry said steamers stopped at Fisher's Landing to load cordwood for fuel. The lumber for her grandfather's home was sawed at a Hudson's Bay Co. mill near the present trout hatchery and towed upriver to the landing.

Thomas Gentry, great-grandson of the original settlers, still lives on the bank of the Columbia River, on the site of William Simmons' original farm.

"They called it Riverview, and they had a huge orchard with all types of apples, pears, peaches, prunes, walnuts and grapes," Gentry said. "There was a cannery at the site where the old Ten-Mile Tavern is located."

This tavern, now closed, was built in the early 1930s and for years was one of the most popular nightspots in the area, Gentry said.

In about 1950, Gentry founded a marina and moorage, Gentry's Landing, at about the same spot at which the former Remington Landing was. Among many old photographs in Gentry's possession is one of the old Remington dock, loaded high with cordwood which was used as fuel for the riverboats.

Gentry said there has been little building along the river because there is no property available. However, farther north, just south of the Mill Plain area, numerous new homes have been built, and a boom is expected with the arrival of two electronics industries, Tektronix and Hewlett-Packard, which have indicated they intend to locate along 164th Avenue.

The major industry in the Fisher area over the years has been the huge rock quarry. At one time, some 250 men were employed to quarry and load the big rocks which were to become jetties at the mouth of the Columbia. The quarry still provides stone for ocean jetties, but the work force is reduced greatly.

Hopfe said the 1907 charter of the Grange lists it as Fishers. The Patrons of Husbandry met in a small building until 1923, when the present Grange hall was constructed. The building was moved about three miles north on Northeast 164th Avenue in 1973 because of plans by the county to widen 164th, which is commonly known as Fisher Road.