Property Record
417 MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | WISCONSIN STATE FISH HATCHERY |
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| Other Name: | DELAFIELD FISH HATCHERY |
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| Reference Number: | 7832 |
| Location (Address): | 417 MAIN ST |
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| County: | Waukesha |
| City: | Delafield |
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| Year Built: | 1907 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1980 |
| Historic Use: | hatchery/nursery |
| Architectural Style: | English Revival Styles |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Fieldstone |
| Architect: | J.T.W. JENNINGS |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. THREATENED WITH DEMOLITION. STONE LINTELS AND SILLS. GABLED PARAPETS ON DORMERS. Photo code #1 is: NR 104. WAS A FACILITY FOR BASS AND WALLEYE HATCHING AND RESEARCH. This building in a park-like setting marks an early stage of Wisconsin’s place in the national fish hatchery movement, which emerged in the 1870s. Part of a wider conservation movement, hatcheries sought to ensure the availability of freshwater fish for market. Wisconsin launched its hatchery program in 1874; this facility opened in 1906-07. Here, the Wisconsin Fisheries Commission staff propagated walleye fry in indoor jars and tanks, and raised black bass in ponds outside. Once the fry reached sufficient length, they were released into Wisconsin rivers and lakes. To design the hatchery, Jennings made the building evoke a Neo-Tudor house, with shouldered gables trimmed in limestone. Colorful, random-coursed granite fieldstone walls add earthy rusticity, as does the irregular roofline studded with wall dormers and a prominent chimney. The rectangular core houses long concrete tanks where walleye were raised, and an office cube is set off the northwest corner. From Main Street, a drive curves through broad lawns landscaped with tall trees. Six bass-raising ponds once dotted the forty-acre site, but only one remains. Fish-rearing operations ceased in 1950; the facility continued as a research station until 1978. |
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| Bibliographic References: | HARTLAND LAKE COUNTRY REPORTER 8/4/1994. Hartland Lake Country Reporter 4/10/1997. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |