Culver Fish Hatcheries  

The fish hatcheries were located on the very easterly end of the Indian Trails - as these pictures depicts. The 1922 plat map shows the drive way for the Jungle Hotel

and the aerial view of the fish hatcheries shows the - drive way again to the - on the very east edge of the Indian Trails.

1933 Mar 8 - Chamber of Commerce Boosts Fish Hatchery

The Culver voted a $50 contrubution to the fish hatchery being constructed by the Maxinkuckee Fish and Game Club. The need of financial hel was explained of financial help was explained by the Club president, Dr. C. G. Mackey, at the Chamber's meeting Mondau noon and the members unanimously voted this help to the community prooject...

1933 - Mar 15 - Rapid Strires at New Fish Hatchery

Get Flowing Well

State Conservation Official Inspects Work and Declares Prospect Favorable

The fish hatchery of the Maxinkuckee Fish and Gane Club is rapifly taking definite shape and local citizens can vet a good idea of how the project will look when finished

A fine flowing well has been finished and it is planned to drill one or two more wells at once. Two of the ponds will be completed nexy week, thr workmrn now being engaged in digging the ponds deeper and building higher bank

Attention will then be turning to improving and beautifying thr grounds, makinh the hatchery a beauty spot as well as of practical use.

The two ponds cover abot one and one-half acres, allowing the vlun to handle a large number of fish. It is possible that a thrid pond cannot be built at this time unless additional funds are received at once.

The club is in need of immediate financial assistance as the response of volunteer labor has been greater than contributiond of moneu but there is considerable of the project that cannot be handled exxcept by the expenditure of money sand the club' treassury has been draine by the work done so far.

Water will be turned into the ponds abou the middle of APRIL AND fish will be placed in the ponds at once. The fish will spawn about the middle of May and will be kept in the hatchery until along in September when the fingerlings. will have reached a length varying from two to six inches. Then they will be ready for placing in larger bodies of water.

As official of the State conservationdepartment looked over the hatchery Monday and declared the prospects indicated a hatchery as good as any in the state.

An invitation has been issued by the Culver Military Academy for all workers on the hatchery to be the guests of the Academy at dinner Friday noon as a special gtreat in recognition of the work these men are doing.

1933 - Mar 18 - CULVER FISH HATCHERY IS PROGRESSING RAPIDLY

Culver, Ind., Mar. 18. The Culver fish hatchery, being built by the Maxinkuckee Fish and Game club, is moving rapidly along so that citizens can already get an idea of what the project will look like when finished.

A fine flowing well has been finished and it is planned to drill one or two more at once. Two of the ponds will be completed next week. Attention will then be turned to improving and beautifying the grounds.

The club is in need of immediate financial assistance as the response of volunteer labor has been greater than contributions of money. But there is considerable of the project that cannot be handled except by the expenditure of money and the club's treasury has been drained by th----e work done so far.

Water will be turned into the ponds the middle of April and fish will be placed in the ponds at once. The fish will spawn about the middle of May and will be kept in the hatchery until along in September when the fingerlings will have reached a length varying from two to six inches. Then they will be ready for placing in larger bodies of water.

An official of the State Conservation Department looked over the hatchery Monday and declared the prospects indicated a hatchery as good as any in the state.

An invitation has been issued by the Culver Military Academy for all workers on the hatchery to be guests of the Academy at dinner Friday noon of this week at the Canteen as a special treat in recognition of the work these men are doing. - The News-Sentinel, Saturday, March 18, 1933

1933 - Apr. 2 - Maxinkuckee Hatchery Work Near Completion

{Special to the Indianapolis Star} - Culver, Ind. April 2 - work has been progressing rapidly on the new hatchery being built ny the newly organized Maxinkuckee Fish and Game Club at Culver and two ponds will be completed next week

Water will be run into the ponds this month and the fish will spawn about the middle of May. This will be kept in the hatchery until September, when they will be put in Lake Maxinkuckee

All work on the hatchery has been volunteered. It was plannerd to build a third pond but due to lack of funds this may not be finished. The project has been financed thus far by donations. - Indianapolis Star

1933 - Apr 26 - Summer Residents Interest In Fish Hatchery

The following are a few of the letters received by officers of the Maxinkuckee Fish and Gane Club from summer cottagers on Lake Maxinkuckee and indicate the interest and suppor accorded by them to the new fish hatchery.

D. H. Dresser The new fish hatchery will be quite an addition and promotopm tp the welfare of and to be congratulated on their lake and Culver. The citiens enterprise in undertaking this venture. The Culver Citizen stated the other day that Fred VanSchoiack caught bass weighing around for and six pounds through th ice and if he is going to continue along that line, it is up to the hatchery to produce fish.

W. B. Wilson - I am quite in sympathy with the project and wish you success

E. C. McDonald Though I personally never fish in the lake in spite of my summers there, I nevertheless am in hearty sympathy with the program you have in view and hope you and your associates will be highly successful

Forrest E. Jump I am glad to know that steps are b eing taken to establish a fish hatchery and to restock ths lake, for there is no question but what your club is right in the statement that for the past severl years the fishing in Maxinkuckee has declined. I only hope that you will be able to raise the amount necessary to carry out this work and will receive the cooperation and support enabling you to carry it out.

Mrs. Henry B. Heywood - As a friend of Lake Maxinkuckee I am interested in matters pertaining to its welfare. I am glad to hear of the fish hatchery project.

1933 - May 31 Additional Contributions to the Fish Hatchery

The Following additional contributions hace been recived by the Maxinkuckee Fish and Game Club for the new Hatchery.
H. B. Keller - $1.00 R. O. Leonard - $1.00 Cleve Crabb - $2.50 R. Ragsdale - $2.50 J. P. Walter - $5.00 Gen Gignilliat - $10.00 Bert Ivey $10.00 Geo. Vonnegut $5.00 Ray Bell $3.50 Harvey Shafer $15.00 A Springer $2.00 Otto RIchete $2.00 Russell FiIsher $2.00 S. E. Perkins $5.00 Paul Dvis $10.00 Wayne VonEhr $1.00 C. E. Hayes $1.00 Robt. H. Wolfe $10.00 Friend $5.00 H. H. Rice $15.00


Milton Wysong, educational director of the state conservation department, was in Culver last week looking over the new fish hatchery and was enthusiastice over the project.

He declared the site was one of the finest in the state and should prove of great benefit to Lak Maxinkuckee.

1933 - Oct 18 - Fish hatchery Puts 22,500 Fingerlings in Maxkinkuckee

Local Project Has Good reslults First Year.

The ponds of the Culver fish hatchery were seined Tuesday and 22,500 three inch large mouth bass fingerlings were placed in Lalke Maxinkuckee.

These fish represent the dividend for the first year on the investment in the hatchery, which is under the auspices of th Maxinkuckee Fish and Game Club.

The project started last spring with onlt $22.50 on hand, and through public donations of money and labor, one pond was completely built, another almost finsihed while a third was only started and must wait further contributions before it can be completed.

If this pond is built it is estmated that an.aditiona. ?10,000 fish will be raised each year.

Ready in 1935

The fish this year were of unusual quality and untiform size and will be ready for fisherman's skill a year from next spring. It is estimated that of the fish the size of the local hatchery has produced this year, 75 to 85 persent will be caught on the hook and ine as they are now large enough to take care of themselves from the other fish.

The crop this year definitely makes the hatchery a sucess and those in charge of the prooject are to be complimented on their work. The only discouraging feature was the theft of some of the large fish during the summer by persons who didn't seem to realize that this is a community project and deserves good sportsmanship by everyone.

State conservation officals have inspected the ponds and decalre the location an ideal one, both from the point of sufficient water supply as well as good marine life and plant food.

1933 - Oct 25 - Work Well Done

The men who gaave so much time to the Maxinkuckee Fish and Game Club fish hatchery are to be commended upon the success of the project. These men started with nothing by an idea and ended the season with 22,500 fingerling to repopulate the lake as well as one complete fish pond, one almost done and a third just started.

These men worked all summer without public acclaim or any sort of renumeration their only reward being the satisfaction of doing a job well and the improvement of the fishing in Lake Maxinkuckee.

The club plans to complete the second and third ponds next pring and the success of the hatchery this year warrants the support of all those who have the interests of the lake at heart.

1934 - Feb 7 - Fish Hatchery develops from an Idea

1934 May 16 - Drilling Hatchery Well - Drilling on a well at the fish hatcher was started the first of the week. This will will be six inch in size abd uts to furnish water for the upper pond. The drouth has furnished quite a problem for the officers of the Maxinkuckee Fish and Fame Club, who decided to add the well as a source of water supply for the three ponds 1934 - Oct 3 - Fish Taken Out of Ponds; Lake Stocked - Abour 30,000 fish were taken out of the fish hatchery of the Maxinkuckee FIsh and Fame CLub Tuesday and place in Lake Maxinkuckee. Two ponds were emptied and the thirf wiil ve seined in two weeks. 22,000 of the fish were of the large mouth variety and 8,000 asnall mouth. They measured between three and four inches in length. The fish were sold to the state conservation department.

1934 - Oct 10 - State Paper Tells Of Local Hatchery

1935 - Feb 6 - Fish Club Ask a For Parent Bass For Pond

The Maxinkuckee Fish and Game Club is asking the public to co-operate in securing parent black bass for the fish ponds. As black bass are cuaght they may be placed in the pond bext to the lake and the donor requested to so notify Clarence Behmer or an officer of the club. During the past week black bass have been places in the pond by Jack Milner, Sam Strang, CHarles Cowen and Harrison Rice.

Attention is also called to the membership drive and that the dues are only 25 cents per yeat. It is urged that every person interested in the lake join the Maxinkuckee FIsh and club at once. ANy officer of the club can issue a mebership card

1935 - Apr 34 - Macinkuckee Fish and Game Club

... The Maxinkuckee FIsh aind Game CLub will take the parent bass out of the winter pond Thursday morning, weather permitting. These will be put in the other two ponds and members are asked to vome to the hatcher and help with the work.

1935 - Oct 16 - Maxinkuckee Club Adds 33,000 Fish to Lake

With the annual draining of the ponds of the Maxinkuckee FIsh an Fame Club fish hatchery last week, 33,000 small fish were added to the population of Lake Maxinkuckee. of the number, 1,000 were sic inch small moth bass, while the balance were of the four inch large mouth variety.

1935 - Oct 9 - Fish club Members to Transfer Fish Friday - Members of the Maxinkuckee Fish and Game Club are requested to be at the fish ponds on the morning of Friday, Oct. 11 at 9:00 o'clock to assist in removing the fish from the rearing ponds and placing them in Lake Maxinkuckee. It is urgea that all members be present and show their interest in this project

1936 - Jan 22 - Fish Club Purschases Land for New Projects

Twenty acres of land have been pruchased from J. E. Dennie by the Maxinkuckee FIsh and Game Club and will be the scene of and expansion of the organization's activities.

The land is located north west if town and includes lake botton terrain that will be suitable for a fish pond...

1936 - Mar 25 - Building Four New Fish Ponds West of Town

Four new fish ponds are being contructed by the Consolidated Fish Hatchery on the land west of Culver recently purchased by the Maxinkuckee Game Club.

Fifteen acres were bought of J. E. Dennie and ofrm an ideal location. The site is adjacent to State Road 10 and has natural drainage with a ditch running along the edge of the land.

Flowing well, which are being drilled, will furnish an ample supply of water.

The ponds will be much larger than those now used by the Maxinkuckee Hatchery and will furnish a large supply of fidh each year for restocking purposes. The ponds will average one and a half acres to a pond.

A high spot in the club's land will provide an ideal site for a club house and still leave room for a trap shooting range.

1936 - Sep 30 - Fish Club Raises Big Supply of Stock Fish

The largest supple of fish in the history of the Macinkuckee fish and Game Club has been raised during the past year, it was reported after the annual drainage of the ponds this last weel. The clubd far exceeded the quota set by the State Department of Conservation. The fish were placed in Lake Maxinkuckee where they should make any an angler happy in another season.

1936 - Oct 7 - Fish Clubs Report Banner Season here....

1937 - Jul 28 - Ex-Conservation Head Praises Local Fish Ponds

George Burg, former director of the fish and game bureau of the indiana Department of Conservation, inspected the local fish hatchery last week and complimented the officers of the Maxinkuckee FIsh and Game CLub on the fine set-up.

Burg was the "daddy" of the present program for developing the fishing interest in the state and was a pioneer in the movement. He is not outing on the Tippecanoe river.

1937 - Nov 17 - Fish Club Adds Quarter Million FIsh to Lake....

1938 - Nov 16 - Over Quarter MIllion Fish Planted by Clubs...

1946 - Feb 20 - State Accepts Local Fish Ponds

The acceptance of the 85 acre preserve on State Road 10 west of Culver from the Maxinkuckee Fish and Game Club has been announced by the Indiana COnservation Commission

The fish ponds in the preserve will afford the Conservation Departmert opportunity to conduct reasearch on fish reating and stocking methods, Milton Matter conservation director, stated.

The Maxinkuckee tract will be used by Dr. WIllliam E. RIcker, director of the lake and stream survey, for the study of fish growth anf stocking.

With acceptance of the gift, offered several months ago by Culver sportsmen who have been directing the affairs of the local club, the Conservation Department assumed a $3,900 mortagage on the property which includes a house as well and the fish rearing ponds.

While the Maxinkuckee Fish and Game club will not operate the ponds any longer, according to Russell Fisher, president of the club, it will continue to raise pheasants and stress reforestation.

The Gun club restains it club house and 24 acres, allowing that area to be used for recreation purposes

1948 - Jul 14 - Real Eastate transfers

Town of Culver to Maxinkuckee & Game Club Inc., tracts in 18-32-1 and 7-32-1
Town of Culver to Indiana Dept. of Conservation, tracts in 18-32-1
State Exchange Bank and State Exchange FInance Co. to Maxinkuckee & Game Club Inc., tracts 18-32-1
Maxinkuckee & Game Club Inc. to Indiana Dept. of Conservation, tracts 18-31-1
Bruce and Isabelle Ogden to to Indiana Dept. of Conservation, same (tracts 18-31-1)
State Exchange Bank and State Exchange FInance Co. to Ind. Dept. of Cons., same (tracts 18-31-1)

1948 - Sep 1 - Maxinkuckee Fish & Game Club Inc. to the American Legion and Community Building Association Memorial Building Association of Culver, northeast quarter of northeast quarter 18-32-1 north of Road 10 exce-t 30 rods off west side 24 acres also south 33 rods lot 1 in 7-32-1 9 acres

1957 - Maxinkuckee Fish and Games Club takes over Maxinkuckee State FIsh Hatchery.

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An old Culver native June (Garn) Napier Sirus remembers going there and catching turtles along with other kids of the community

The uppermost pond was used for fingerlings, and as the fish grew they were released into the middle pond, and then finally a bit more larger into the third pond before finally being released into the lake.

The hatchery became operational by the late spring and remained until a new hatchery was constructed next to the old American Legion Post on Indiana 10 [ the legion property is now or was owned by Mc Carty's]. In the biography of Bruce Odgen it is stated that 16 acres of land was purchased off the north end of his property by the State of Indiana for the fish hatcheries.

This area is shown by the following maps the first being a cropped section of the 1936 plat map showing no conservation area and the second a 1948 showing the 16 acres marked "conservation":

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View of as of 2020 - 27.014 - Town of Culver