Reynolds Fisher was born in Cincinnati on Aug. 8, 1855.
He had relocated to Philadelphia with his parents and siblings 1870, and than was living in Detroit by 1875, where he worked as a draftsman in the office of Elijah E. Myers. At that time, Myers was working on the design for the Michigan State Capitol. Fisher remained with Myers until about 1883.
He then moved to Chicago, where he tried his hand at a solo practice around 1885. Three years later, he had partnered with Normand Smith Patton in the firm Patton & Fisher.
In 1889, he married Detroiter Helen Burt in the Motor City.
It was around this time that Grant C. Miller joined the firm, and its name became Patton, Fisher & Miller. This firm would design several important buildings in Chicagoland, including the Natural History Museum in Lincoln Park, the Armour Institute and buildings for the Chicago Theological Seminary. Its projects in Michigan are mostly on the state's west side, such as the Hackley Public Library in Muskegon, Kalamazoo Public Library, work for Kalamazoo College, high schools in Muskegon and Kalamazoo, and Kalamazoo College's Science Hall.
In 1901, Fisher left the field of architecture and moved to Washington state, where he served as vice president of the Pontiac Brick & Tile Co. This major career shift was likely driven by the fact that his brother, William Fisher, was president of that company.
Apparently missing the game, Fisher returned to Detroit in 1903 to become an architect again, partnering with Richard E. Raseman to form the short-lived firm Raseman & Fisher. The firm was dissolved in 1906.
The 1920 census lists the 64-year-old FIsher as a widower. Ten years later, the census showed him living in Howell, Mich., and married to Susanne Moody Fisher, who was born in England.
Fisher retired in 1927, and the couple were spending their winters in Fairhope, Ala., where they moved full time in 1937.
A year later, Fisher was stricken with paralysis and became bed-ridden. He died a year later, on May 4, 1939, in Fairhope, where he was buried in Colony Cemetery.