Return to D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery

Tours

Updated September 23, 2026

Fish Car #3

A color photo looking down the side of the Bureau of Fisheries fish rail car. The rail car recedes away from the viewer - windows become smaller and out of focus the further away they go. The rail car is a deep green color with gold lines and detail work. Green trees are in the background. — From mid-May through September, visitors to the fish hatchery can take free guided tours of Replica Fish Car #3.

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.

Fish Car #3 hours:

Mid-May through September - 9am to 6pm daily

Booth House

A large two story white house with green trim sits on a manicured green lawn surrounded by trees and blue sky. — The Booth House, built for the first superintendent 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 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.

Booth House hours:

Mid-May through September - 9am to 6pm daily

National Fisheries Museum

A light yellow building with a tower feature sits above a rock wall with tall pine trees in the background. — Built in 1899, the museum is the oldest building on the grounds. Once crowed with wooden troughs of incubating fish eggs, the museum now contains exhibits of historic information and artifacts collected nationwide from fish management programs.

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.

Museum Hours

Mid-May through September - 9am to 6pm daily

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