Hatchery Celebrates 100 year Anniversary
LEBANON, MO. – In 1900 according to a report in the Laclede County Sentinel, an area newspaper of the time, the Missouri Fish Commissioner had 40,000 mountain trout brought in from west of the Continental Divide and dropped into the Spring Branch, a tributary of the Niangua River on the Laclede-Dallas County line, outside what was then the village of Brice. In July 1923, Dr. Charles A. Farrow, an Oklahoma dentist followed up on that idea and built a small trout hatchery nearby. And with that, what would become the Bennett Spring Trout Hatchery was established. It was purchased by the state of Missouri in April 1925, when they also bought 565 acres from William Sherman Bennett, which constituted the heart of the state park for many years. Bennett was a grandson of James Brice, the original settler who arrived in the area in 1837.
James Brice and Peter Bennett, W.S. Bennett’s father, built several mills in the area in the 19th century. The last mill, built in 1900, continued to operate, first as a grist mill and then later as a grinder for fish food for many years after the state purchased the surrounding properties. It burned to the ground in the 1940s when there was a feud going on between those who thought it should be preserved as a historic site versus those who wanted it torn down to make way for hatchery expansion. Today, a small section of its concrete footing can still be seen along the roots of a cluster of sycamore trees along one of the hatchery pools, just above the Spring Branch.
The first hatchery pools running close up by the original hatchery building near the dam have served their purpose for over 100 years. More pools were added below, in the 1960s, basically on the site of the last mill and across from what was once the main street of the village of Brice, now the location of the Bennett Spring Park Store.
For nearly 100 years, the trout eggs and fry were raised in trays and troughs in the basement of the original hatchery building built by Dr. Farrow. Those processes were moved to a new building, down by the lower pools in recent years, saving the hatchery workers many trips up and down the stairs of the older building.
In the spring of 1979, the hatchery suffered its first catastrophic flood in that the hatchery pools were completely inundated. While most might assume that meant many escaping trout, a retired hatchery employee explained that many of the larger trout simply sink down to the safety of the lowest portion of the pools and off to the sides. The smaller trout however, are often washed into other pools leaving the trout, that had been carefully separated by size in readiness for stocking the Spring Branch, greatly mixed. It would take the hatchery employees weeks of work to sort them all out again by hand, using nets and grading boxes. Unfortunately, the same happened again in October 1986 and December 2015.
Most recently beginning in mid-2024, the Bennett Spring Hatchery has been undergoing a $40 million renovation.
According to Ben Havens, Bennett Spring Hatchery manager, the renovation at the hatchery continues and is basically on schedule, despite some early weather delays.
“They are busy working on the original hatchery building where our offices have always been,” he explained. “That building was built in the 1920s and while it has been remodeled over the years at other times, this project includes new plumbing and electric, a second bathroom, and an upgrade to our offices, making them more accessible for visitors, bringing them up to code.”
He continued. “They are also putting in bigger windows, an improved larger viewing deck over the Spring Branch. There will also be more space for our programs and fly tyers who meet here regularly.”
He continued. “Right now the construction crew is also working on the new head gate area. They’ve removed some of the old concrete that is no longer in use. They had to first build a better platform for the use of some of the heavy equipment that was needed to do the work. They’ve been drilling for the installation of footers that will support the new head gate. It will include rotating screens and be under a roof so it will be better protected from the weather. This will also make a great deal of difference during flood times.”
Havens further explained that these improvements also include more pumps, pipes, and other equipment.
“This is a two-year construction project, so we are a little more than six months in at this point and progress is being made.”
Further renovations include new piping under the hatchery pools which are currently sitting dry.
“We have no fish on site at the moment,” Havens added. “They still have to retrofit the raceway pools and the raceway transitions will be re-done in the coming weeks.
“We will not have any fish on site as the 2025 season begins but will be hauling fish in from other cold water system hatcheries to meet our stocking commitments as we have done in 2024. The renovation end date is still summer/fall 2025 so we are hopeful to see the entire project completed on time.”
After 101 years, the Bennett Spring Hatchery will soon have a complete new facelift and better facilities to accommodate its many visitors.
