Prairie Creek Fish Hatchery

From Hatchery to Heritage Site

Built in 1936, the Prairie Creek Fish Hatchery is one of the few remaining historic hatcheries in California. Originally used to raise salmon and trout, it served as an educational site for decades. Despite challenges like logging impacts and outdated facilities, it remained in operation until 1992. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the hatchery is undergoing rehabilitation with partners such as the Yurok Tribe and HistoriCorps. Soon, it will reopen as a training and meeting space, preserving its historical and educational legacy.

The Prairie Creek Fish Hatchery in Operation

The state of California historically established fish hatcheries to promote sport fishing and combat the effects of overfishing. From the late 1800s into the 1900s, state and national agencies supported these efforts. Pre-World War II hatcheries, including Prairie Creek Fish Hatchery, were small and low-tech, funded primarily through fishing licenses and fees. These facilities were designed to release small fish into streams, enhancing sport fishing opportunities.

Construction and Facilities

The Prairie Creek Fish Hatchery, built in 1936, featured a hatchery building equipped with troughs and tanks, outdoor ponds for fish growth, and a diversion dam and reservoir that brought water from Lost Man Creek. The site included two or three houses, a dormitory, and a garage or shop. These buildings were functional, built by local carpenters using redwood from the area, with minimal decoration. The landscaping featured flowers, ornamental plants, and lawns, providing amenities for employees and their families who lived on site.

Fish Production Process

Hatchery employees raised several species, including silver and king salmon, cutthroat, rainbow, and steelhead trout. Wild salmon were trapped at the dam, and workers collected eggs from females and sperm from males, spawning them in buckets. The harvested fish carcasses were either left for wildlife like bears, consumed by staff, or distributed within the community.

The fertilized eggs were transferred to troughs in the hatchery building, placed into perforated baskets that allowed water flow, and were rotated until the eggs hatched. Once the "fry" matured to "fingerling" stage, they were moved to outdoor tanks. When they were large enough, workers scooped them into milk cans equipped with aerators and transported them to streams in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. By 1949, the hatchery used specialized tank trucks for transportation.

Challenges and Closure

Post-World War II logging activities severely degraded Lost Man Creek, affecting hatchery production. In response, the state closed the facility in 1956, deeming it outdated. Humboldt County leased and updated the property in 1958 to maintain operations.

The establishment of Redwood National Park in 1968 increased tourism in the area, turning the hatchery into an educational site. Thousands of visitors, including school groups, learned about the hatchery’s history and operations as part of their visits. However, the hatchery ceased operations in 1992, and the property was transferred to the National Park Service shortly after.

Preservation

2000: The Prairie Creek Fish Hatchery is listed on National Register of Historic Places.

2001: The buildings are “mothballed” to help preserve unused structures that were not in use.The NPS continues to maintain the property and landscape.

2011: NPS preservationists and partners like HistoriCorps stabilized the hatchery building, which was weakened due to wood rot, by painting and replacing damaged materials. The NPS also conducted a Cultural Landscape Inventory to better document the property’s landscape features.

Today: Following the CLR’s recommendation, Redwood National and State Parks is rehabilitating the historic buildings as meeting and training spaces for the park, tribal partners, and park rangers nationwide. This work is in collaboration with the Yurok Tribe and the NPS Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC).