Located between Spearfish City Park and the Spearfish Campground, the grounds are open year-round and are free to the public. The hatchery was established in 1896, making it one of the oldest operating hatcheries in the country. “It is a fun, family-friendly learning environment that is free, which is always nice when you’re traveling as a family,” said April Gregory, curator of collections and exhibits. Gregory is going on her 11th year with the hatchery. Not being a South Dakota native, she says she moved to Spearfish from Minnesota sight unseen to work as an archives intern. She then went on to become the executive director of the Booth Society, the nonprofit support group of the hatchery, for five years before being hired into her current role with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. There are a multitude of things to explore on the 10-acre historic site.
Visitors have the opportunity to interact with the fish by feeding the Rainbow and Brown Trout, or watching them through the underwater viewing windows (photo on page 66). “We’re an active fish hatchery, even though we have the title 'historic' in our name,” said Gregory. “We’re still actively raising fish and restocking them.” The hatchery no longer hatches eggs. However, it’s still a part of the National Fish Hatchery System. The fish raised at the hatchery are distributed to regional tribal waters. “You can tour the Hector Von Bayer Museum, housed in the historic hatchery building, and it’s all about fish culture or the historic superintendent’s home, The Booth House,” said Gregory. “We also have a full-scale replica of a fish railcar. There were only 10 railcars used over 70 years to transport live fish from coast to coast.”
