Historic Fish Hatchery Headquarters Building

The historic Fish Hatchery Headquarters in Forest Park was built from stone as part of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in 1938. Originally established in 1879, the Forest Park Fish Hatchery was the first of its kind in Missouri. During the 1930s, it was expanded, with several additional ponds constructed, along with the new headquarters building. At its peak, the site encompassed nine ponds spread out over fourteen acres, hatching as many as 890,000 carp. In 1927, the operations of the hatchery were filmed by a motion picture crew from Paramount Pictures in Hollywood. Today, the headquarters building and fish hatchery are no longer operational, but the five remaining ponds are used for educational programming by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Programs include fish farming workshops and water quality sampling. Birdwatching tours depart from the historic stone headquarters building.

Established in 1879, the Forest Park Fish Hatchery was the first of its kind in the state of Missouri. In 1927, Hollywood came calling when Paramount Pictures arrived on site to film the operations of the hatchery. The film footage showed the process of the fish being bred, hatched, and then transferred from the lagoons and ponds in Forest Park into various streams throughout the state. The fish were transported to their new permanent habitats using aquarium railcars and milk cans.

In 1938, a historic stone Fish Hatchery Headquarters building was constructed in Forest Park as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. These WPA projects were originally conceptualized as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, which was intended to provide jobs following the Great Depression. At the time, the Fish Hatchery was also expanded, with several new hatching ponds dug near the headquarters to encompass a total of fourteen acres.

At its peak in 1894, the historic fish hatchery included nine ponds, which hatched 890,000 carp. Although the site is no longer used for fish farming today, the headquarters building and the five remaining ponds are integral to educational programs in Forest Park. The Missouri Department of Conservation leads fishing workshops and water quality sampling programs in the ponds, which are surrounded by trails for visitors to enjoy walking on.

The 1938 headquarters building is also the current departure site for outdoor birdwatching tours, such as "Walking the Waterway," in which a knowledgable guide leads public groups to view waterfowl and other birds. Kingfishers, Black-crowned night herons, green herons, and great egrets are just a few of the species that reside in this area, which was previously home to the active fish hatchery.

Fish Hatchery, Forest Park Forever. Accessed May 13th 2022. https://forestparkmap.org/fish-hatchery.

Missouri's Fish Hatcheries To Be In The Movies. Missouri Fish and Game News. November 1st 1927. 4 - 4.

Forest Park Fish Hatchery, The Living New Deal. Accessed May 13th 2022. https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/forest-park-fish-hatchery-st-louis-mo/.