| 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.
BUILDING #118 IS TUDOR REVIVAL, RANDOM ASHLAR STONE W/ ROUND ARCHED DOOR, BUILDING #00112, A LONG RAMBLING SERVICE BLDG, SHOWS CRAFTSMAN INFLUENCE, STUCCO EXT W/ PIERS AND BRACKETS, OTHER BUILDINGS RANGE FROM VERNACULAR TO ASTYLISTIC.
This one and a half-story astylistic utilitarian fish hatchery, composed of a wood and masonry construction, features a T-shaped plan configuration, a concrete foundation, an aluminum/vinyl sided exterior, a wood trim, and an asphalt shingled hip roof. A basement was included in the architectural design as well. Several remodeling projects occurred over the years including a laboratory which was built in 1959, a new roof which was added in 1966 and a rearing room with windows which was constructed in 1967. (Another Map Code for this building is 64/3).
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The Nevin State Fish Hatchery and Southern District Headquarters is located southwest of Wisconsin's Capitol, Madison in Fitchburg which is located in Dane County. Nevin is one of 12 trout hatcheries and rearing stations maintained by the Wisconsin DNR. The hatchery, formerly known as the Madison Fish Hatchery, was purchased from a private fish producer by the state of Wisconsin in 1876. In 1882, James Nevin was named the first superintendent. Mr. Nevin was instrumental in developing this hatchery as a well as several other fish hatcheries throughout the state and made exceptional contributions in the field of conservation in Wisconsin. These accomplishments resulted in having the hatchery re-named in his honor. Since 1882, much additional land has been purchased and the Southern District Headquarters has been incorporated into the complex.
Brook, Brown and and Rainbow trout are the primary fish raised in the Nevin Hatcheries' immaculately maintained raceways and rearing ponds. The rest of the hatchery complex consists of a hatchery, garages, storage buildings, a laboratory and tanks. The hatchery is a frame building circa 1939, and contains tanks for fertilized trout eggs. With the exception of a 1940 WPA constructed poured concrete service building, the other hatchery buildings are routine. The concrete building, part of the Southern District Headquarters, is a handsome Art-Deco style. A garage/office building features some nice masonry -- fieldstone laid up in ashlar. The whole complex is in very good condition.
DESCRIPTION OF COMPLEX:
Trout hatching and rearing facility, the oldest of 22 hatcheries in Wisconsin. (The original building was built in 1875; the complex known as "Nine Springs Hatchery," then "Madison Hatchery.") Complex consists of a hatchery, garages and storage buildings, laboratory, tanks and raceways.
The hatchery is a frame building, circa 1939, and contains tanks for fertilized trout eggs. With the exception of a 1940 WPA-constructed poured concrete service building, the other hatchery buildings are routine. The concrete building suggests late Art Deco style. A garage/office building features fieldstone laid up in ashlar.
SIGNIFICANCE:
Complex more significant for its history than for its architecture. See pamphlet from Nevin Hatchery. (See Bib. Ref. D).
2019 City of Fitchburg survey recommendation write-up:
The Nevin State Fish Hatchery is located along the east side of Fish Hatchery Road, just north of the north end of Glacier Valley Road (see map on page 38). The greater property also houses the South Central Regional Headquarters of the Department of Natural Resources, which includes a Service Center, as well as a Forestry Building, the latter two buildings of which are located along the property’s “upper” drive and are considered to be non-contributing to the property’s significance as they are not associated with the hatchery (note that the Forestry Building is drawn out of the historic boundary on the map). The entire DNR-owned grounds include approximately 320 acres, while the hatchery occupies about fifteen of those acres. Although the hatchery grounds proper are today all found east of the lower drive, earlier associated buildings were located to the west and north of the roadway. The hatchery’s main building—the hatchery itself (AHI#4629), is a modest, hipped-roof, frame-constructed building that includes offices at the front and the hatchery tanks to the rear. A springhouse (Ca. 1939; 76355) is situated to the south of the hatchery building, while a feed shed (Ca. 1960s; #239754) is to the north. A series of concrete, outdoor raceways are located east of the hatchery building, as is the gabled metal, Spiral Building (1963; #239753). Two rearing ponds are found at the easternmost edge of the hatchery grounds, one to the north and the other to the south. A grouping of garages ranging in date from the 1940s to the 1980s, is located at the southwesterly quadrant of the property. Please see page 37 for a full list of buildings and structures on the property, along with their construction dates and AHI numbers.
Originally comprised of just under 40 acres, the Nevin State Fish Hatchery began in 1876, following the purchase of the privately held, Madison Fish Hatchery by the Wisconsin Commissioners of Fisheries (later absorbed into the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources). In 1882, Canadian native James Nevin was brought to Wisconsin by the then Governor Jeremiah Rusk to serve as the hatchery’s first superintendent and is identified as being responsible for the construction of all of the other hatcheries in Wisconsin. Nevin died in 1921. Five artesian wells and one spring supply 2.2 million gallons of water to the facility daily. Over one half million trout are raised at the Nevin Hatchery annually. While domestic brook, brown and rainbow trout were long the primary fish raised at Nevin (as of the 1970s, rainbow trout was the primary species raised; however, more recently brown trout make up half the amount raised), a wild-strain brook and brown trout program began there in 1995. It is estimated that seventy percent of the statewide inland wild trout are raised at Nevin. |
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