The Fishback Neighborhood is located east of the downtown commercial area in Fort Smith, Arkansas (2013 est. pop. 87,443). Fort Smith is located on the western edge of the state adjacent to the Oklahoma border and is the county seat of Sebastian County. Founded on the Arkansas River, Fort Smith was an important military and trading center in the 19th century. The Fishback Neighborhood developed after 1890 as Fort Smith emerged as the leading city in the state's western region. The neighborhood was settled by some of the city's leading citizens who built houses in the Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, Craftsman, American Foursquare, and Spanish Mission style. Also in the neighborhood are more modest Bungalow dwellings of the early 20th century. The majority of the lots in the neighborhood were developed by the late 1930s and there are few dwellings that were built after World War II.

The Fishback Neighborhood Historic District and its boundary increase are bounded on the north by Rogers Avenue (State Highway 22), which is an important east/west corridor in the city. Originally known as the Little Rock Road, this highway has been an important transportation artery for almost 200 years. This area was largely farmland in the 19th century and a two-story frame dwelling was built on the top of a hill by William Meade Fishback ca. 1868. Fishback's property and the location of his home were illustrated in the 1887 Atlas of Sebastian County. Fishback was a prominent attorney and landowner in Fort Smith in the late 19th century and was elected to one term as Governor of Arkansas in 1892. Following his death in 1903, his heirs gradually subdivided his property into residential lots as the city expanded to the east. One of the earliest subdivisions resulted in the creation of Adelaide Avenue in 1910. This street was laid out on top of the hill occupied by the Fishback home and on either side of the street developers created 50' wide residential lots.

The Fishback Neighborhood emerged as an upper-and middle-class neighborhood in the early 20th century. One of many subdivisions established in what was a newly annexed area of Fort Smith, the Fishback Neighborhood reflects the growth and development of the city as it entered a new progressive era. Suburban development, modem transportation via streetcar and automobiles, and an increasing middle class defined the nature of this growth as Fort Smith evolved into an important city on the Arkansas/Oklahoma border.