Tours
Before the invention of refrigerated tanker trucks, fish hatcheries were faced with the problem of how to quickly move fish from hatcheries to lakes and rivers around the country.
D.C. Booth displays the only federal fisheries railcar exhibit in the country, showcasing a replica of Fish Car No. 3. Visitors to this unique and beautifully restored railcar will learn about the history of the Fish Car Era, a 66-year period that played a key role in fisheries propagation.
Tours
The Neo-Colonial Revival Booth House, built for the first superintendant in 1905, is open for tours to visitors who would like to learn about the history of the house and the families that lived and worked at the hatchery.
The home was first constructed to provide modern, comfortable living quarters for Dewitt Clinton Booth and his family. The large, wood frame dwelling has a masonry foundation of rusticated sandstone. The Booth House features two expansive porches with classical columns, huge oval windows, a bay window, and a rear balcony. Generally unaltered from historic times, the interior is anointed with period furnishings and Booth Family memorabilia.
Tours
Housed in the original 1899 hatchery building, the National Fisheries Museum showcases items from the National Fish & Aquatic Conservation Archives (NFACA) collection which is housed onsite. NFACA collects and preserves historic objects and archival materials from National Fish Hatcheries throughout the country, some of which are on display in the museum.
The museum tells the story of the history and technology of our nation’s fish culture: tools used, transportation methods of live fish, eggs, and more. By utilizing the museum collection, we hope to increase the awareness of the various roles and the inestimable value of fish culture and fisheries in everyday life. This includes the contributions of fish culture to the recreational and social wellbeing of the people of the United States and the world.
The museum is open daily in the summer and is free.