Carolina Black Bass Hatchery

[Clyde]

I have a booklet titled "Carolina Black Bass Hatchery" and it says Carolina Rhode Island. I doesn't list an author and is not dated. I haven't been able to find any detils about the hatchery. I'm trying to find out if it still exists and if not when was it closed. I'm working on the fifth and final edition of a bibliography, "Books of the Black Bass" and trying to make it as complete as possible.
[e-mail]

[K_Gallup]

Here is info that references to the parent Hatchery in Carolina RI
The Cross Mills Hatchery was in the Town Of Charlestown.
The Parent (Larger) Hatchery was in the Carolina Portion of the Town of Richmond, RI.
Originally this land was part of The American Fish Culture business (AFC) and was called the Cross' Mill Hatchery. AFC was based 10 minutes north of Cross' Mills in Carolina, RI. Between 1900 and 1950, the business expanded to include the Carolina Hatchery, Tanner Trout Farm, Perryville Hatchery and a Berkshire-based hatchery. The Cross' Mills Hatchery was their last acquisition added about 1950. Cross' Mills drew water from Mill Pond which has springs that are up to forty feet deep and ten feet wide. These springs produce 200 gallons per minute at a steady temperature of 48 degrees year round - perfect for raising rainbow trout. During the 1940's-1950's, AFC was New England's largest private hatchery, shipping two hundred thousand pounds of trout to fishing clubs region wide and to the Fulton Street Fish Market in NYC.
Running a hatchery was not always easy, however. Poaching by both humans, otters and birds of prey had to be dealt with, and the meandering flow of the water under Rte 1 between the hatchery and the ocean was a worry for AFC. A caretaker's house was built by Charlie Dyson, and today houses equipment belonging to Crystal Springs, a company selling spring water.
Over time there was a steady decline in private hatchery business so that in 1995 AFC was ready to sell. According to Oliver Hazard, the then President of AFC, the property was within an "eyelash" of being sold to the Suntory Group of Japan. With 6 hours to go, the Nature Conservancy stepped in and the land was saved. Ultimately, the land was transferred to South County Conservancy and was opened to the public on Earth Day 2005.
http://www.southcountyconservancy.org/MillPon...

[K_Gallup]

More info.
Looks like it was bought by the State of RI.
Check this out:
Carolina Trout Hatchery
13 Old Richmond Townhouse Rd., Carolina, RI 02818

http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/fishwi...

[Clyde Drury]

Thank you very much. You gave me everything I wanted. I had been promised info from another source and was waiting for that so I didn't check back here as I should have.

Books of the Black Bass
http://hometown.aol.com/BassBks/index.html

K_Gallup wrote:

Here is info that references to the parent Hatchery in Carolina RI
The Cross Mills Hatchery was in the Town Of Charlestown.
The Parent (Larger) Hatchery was in the Carolina Portion of the Town of Richmond, RI.
Originally this land was part of The American Fish Culture business (AFC) and was called the Cross' Mill Hatchery. AFC was based 10 minutes north of Cross' Mills in Carolina, RI. Between 1900 and 1950, the business expanded to include the Carolina Hatchery, Tanner Trout Farm, Perryville Hatchery and a Berkshire-based hatchery. The Cross' Mills Hatchery was their last acquisition added about 1950. Cross' Mills drew water from Mill Pond which has springs that are up to forty feet deep and ten feet wide. These springs produce 200 gallons per minute at a steady temperature of 48 degrees year round - perfect for raising rainbow trout. During the 1940's-1950's, AFC was New England's largest private hatchery, shipping two hundred thousand pounds of trout to fishing clubs region wide and to the Fulton Street Fish Market in NYC.
Running a hatchery was not always easy, however. Poaching by both humans, otters and birds of prey had to be dealt with, and the meandering flow of the water under Rte 1 between the hatchery and the ocean was a worry for AFC. A caretaker's house was built by Charlie Dyson, and today houses equipment belonging to Crystal Springs, a company selling spring water.
Over time there was a steady decline in private hatchery business so that in 1995 AFC was ready to sell. According to Oliver Hazard, the then President of AFC, the property was within an "eyelash" of being sold to the Suntory Group of Japan. With 6 hours to go, the Nature Conservancy stepped in and the land was saved. Ultimately, the land was transferred to South County Conservancy and was opened to the public on Earth Day 2005.
http://www.southcountyconservancy.org/MillPon...