Bass Lake Fish Hatchery
In 1912, Warren S. Terry deeded some family land near the shores of northern Indiana’s Bass Lake to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. That ground became the Bass Lake State Fish Hatchery, which provided fish for many of Indiana’s lakes, rivers and streams. In 1927 the Indiana DNR built a brick service building and manager’s residence in Colonial Revival Style. These buildings are listed on the National Historic Register today.
Click here to read a short history of the Bass Lake Fish Hatchery.
In 1996, the hatchery was closed by the state and the land reverted to the family which originally made the donation. In the fall of 2005, Eldon and Elaine Palmer donated 4.5 acres of land at Bass Lake in Starke County to Purdue University and provided additional financial support to establish the Francis W. Palmer Center for Aquatic Resources in honor of Eldon’s father, Francis Palmer. Their contribution included an especially important tract of land completed the 10.15 acres of property at Bass Lake that was previously transferred to the Trustees of Purdue University by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. In 2010 the renovation of the Bass Lake hatchery house was completed and today it is occupied by faculty and staff of the Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources Department.
