The Lake Fish Hatchery Historic District comprises nine buildings built between 1930 and 1932 by the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

in the National Park Service Rustic style. The buildings exhibit a consistency of style and construction, with exposed gable trusses and oversized paired logs at the corners, all with brown paint.Kaiser, Harvey (1997). "Landmarks in the Landscape", San Francisco: Chronicle Books , p. 147 The district is located on the shore of

Yellowstone lake Yellowstone Lake is the largest body of water in Yellowstone National Park. The lake is above sea level and covers with of shoreline. While the average depth of the lake is , its greatest depth is at least . Yellowstone Lake is the largest fre ...

near the Lake Hotel The hatchery was established to provide

Yellowstone cutthroat trout The Yellowstone cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri'') is a subspecies of the cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii''). It is a freshwater fish in the salmon family (family Salmonidae). Native only to a few U.S. states, their ...

eggs for state and federal hatcheries outside Yellowstone.

History

By the early 20th century, a number of hatcheries were established in the park by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries including hatcheries at

Yellowstone Lake Yellowstone Lake is the largest body of water in Yellowstone National Park. The lake is above sea level and covers with of shoreline. While the average depth of the lake is , its greatest depth is at least . Yellowstone Lake is the largest fre ...

and

Soda Butte Creek Soda Butte Creek is an approximately long major tributary of the Lamar River in Yellowstone National Park. It is named for a now-extinct geyser (Soda Butte) near its mouth. Soda Butte and the creek were named by A. Bart Henderson, a Cooke City m ...

. The current Lake Fish Hatchery replaced an earlier hatchery at Lake. These hatcheries not only produced stocks for the park, but also took advantage of the great spawning stock of Yellowstone cutthroat trout to supply eggs to hatcheries around the U.S. Between 1901 and 1953, 818 million trout eggs were exported from the park to hatcheries throughout the U.S. The hatcheries and stocking operations had both positive and negative impacts on the quality of angling in Yellowstone National Park in the first half of the 20th century. Many native populations were displaced by non-natives, but there was quality

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

and rainbow trout fishing in the Firehole,

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

and Gibbon Rivers. Ultimately stocking and hatchery operations negatively impacted Yellowstone cutthroat,

westslope cutthroat trout The westslope cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi''), also known as the black-spotted trout, common cutthroat trout and red-throated trout is a subspecies of the cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii'') and is a freshwater fish in t ...

and

Arctic grayling The Arctic grayling (''Thymallus arcticus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. ''T. arcticus'' is widespread throughout the Arctic and Pacific drainages in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as the upper Mis ...

populations in the park. In 1953 the National Park Service began closing the hatcheries and stopping stocking operations. The last fish stocked for the benefit of anglers was in 1955 after some 310 million fish had been released in park waters since 1889. The last hatchery was closed in 1957.

Description

The chief building of the district is Building 725, the South District Office for the park and the former Fish and Wildlife Service messhall. The building was built in 1935 using a "logs out" technique of construction, in which the log frame is exposed on the outside and the sheathing is set in, giving the interior a smooth wall finish. Building 726 was the hatchery itself, built in a similar style about 1930 and transferred to the Park Service in 1959. The one story building encloses about . An arched log truss is a prominent feature of the end elevation, together with a rubblestone chimney. The hatchery building was designed to accommodate park visitors, with an aquarium space with glazed panels to allow visitors to view the fish at tank level, and a balcony above the hatching troughs. Building 729 was an office and summer residence for the Fish and Wildlife Service's hatchery director. Built in 1932, the one story building matches its neighbors, in an L-shaped plan. Buildings 730 and 731 are smaller residences, built about 1931. Building 732, a garage, was built in 1930 with six bays. Building 733 was a FWS bunkhouse, built in 1930 with about . Building 735, a wash house, and 737, an oil house, complete the ensemble. Other facilities built at about the same time included boathouses, a dock, and rearing ponds, which have not survived.Lake Fish Hatchery Historic Structure Report, p. 10 The district was originally under the jurisdiction of the

, but with the cessation of hatchery operations, it is now owned by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

. The hatchery messhall became the office for the southern district of the park. The former bunkhouse also became Park Service offices. The Lake Hatchery was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on June 25, 1985

References

External links

Lake Fish Hatchery
Yellowstone National Park website
Lake Fish Hatchery Historic District
at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office {{Wyoming Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming National Park Service rustic in Wyoming Fish hatcheries in the United States Historic American Buildings Survey in Wyoming Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming Agricultural buildings and structures in Wyoming National Register of Historic Places in Teton County, Wyoming National Register of Historic Places in Yellowstone National Park 1932 establishments in Wyoming Log buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming Buildings and structures in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming

History

Description

See also

References

External links