A note from from Mayor Brian Turnbull...


** NORTHVILLIANS,
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Last weekend we honored our graduates, and just previous to that, we engaged on Memorial Day tributes to our military veterans. Also, this past week, it was my honor and privilege to represent the needs of all Northvillians at the Michigan Policy Conference with the Governor. Last year we were successful in receiving generous grants from Federal, State and County executives, with whom I met with again at this conference. After multiple meetings at the gathering, I’m very optimistic that we will secure additional grant support from both public and private sector leaders. Our community looks forward to continued progress on our launched initiatives (e.g., the River Walk, Ford Field, Farmers’ Market and strengthening our downtown activities through active grant engagements).

With the weather becoming summer-like, it’s time to get out and enjoy our community assets, including the parks: Maybury, Millennial, Ford Field, Cass Benton, Mill Race, and the Fish Hatchery Park in the Orchard Heights area (the topic of today’s newsletter).

Before jumping to Fish Hatchery Park history, let's take a look at what's happening in town:

6/8 – State of Community Recap, Thursday, June 8^th, Northville Township Hall, (Six Mile/Sheldon). The City of Northville, Northville Township, and our Schools will TEAM up to review again the State of the Community…plan to attend live…or tune in via Zoom: Link ([link removed])

6/10 – History & Restoration of Fish Hatchery Park presented at Mill Race Village, Saturday 6/10, 10AM-12PM. Mayor Turnbull will cover its beginnings and recent improvements, and John O'Meara and Alice Baily from ECT will discuss the ongoing restoration efforts of this program, sponsored by The Northville Historical Society, the Paul H. Young Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Friends of the Rouge. Link ([link removed])

6/10 – Northville Downtown Car Show, this Saturday (always 2nd Saturday Monthly): 8AM - 10AM, Old Village School entrance off of Cady, next to the Library. Link ([link removed])

6/10 – Maybury Breeding Birds Hike, Saturday, 8AM-10AM: (Maybury State Park, use Eight Mile entrance). Meet at the Trailhead Building. Bring binoculars if you have them! Link ([link removed])

6/12 - 6/16 – Northville's Gigantic Garage Sale, Monday-Friday, 9AM-9PM, 218 Dunlap Street. This annual sale benefits the Northville Historical Society and the Dr. Karl Stockhausen Memorial Scholarship. Link ([link removed])

6/15 – Senior Fest, Thursday 6/15 @ 10:30 AM - 2:00 PM, Community Center - Link ([link removed])

June Concerts every Friday & Saturday at 7:00 PM – Downtown Northville - Link ([link removed])

Now let's take a look at the history of Northville's Fish Hatchery...
For this article, I gathered info from the Northville Record archives, my personal experiences at the park when I was young, stories from my father and grandparents who were Northville historians, along with articles from Michelle Fecht and others including info from Joe Oldenburg (Oldenburgs had a store on Center Street in the early 1900’s).
* The Northville Fish Hatchery Park has historically been a gateway to the community and is named for one of the community's early industries that was at this location.

* The site of the park today, owned by both the City and the Township, sits on property once occupied by one of the largest and most successful fish hatcheries in the United States.

* Originally, in the mid-1800’s, bricks and pottery were made in this vicinity.

* The Michigan Fisheries Centennial report stated that in 1867, Mr. N. W. Clark started a small brook trout hatchery in Clarkston. In 1874, he was the architect of our Fish Hatchery, with its 17 ponds, raceways & buildings where patents were developed.

* The hatchery, from its beginnings in 1874, leased the land to breed salmon, trout, whitefish, etc. The Cold Springs Cream and Butter Company owned the property.

* The topography was perfect to establish the Northville Fish Hatchery as the first federal hatchery in the nation in 1880.

* According to federal sources, in the winter of 1889-90 when the establishment was fully operational, the facility contained 2.1 million lake trout eggs, 207,000 brook trout, 120,000 Loch Leven trout, and 57,500 rainbow trout.

* Shipments were made throughout the United States, Mexico, England, France, Germany, South America, New Zealand, and other places via train and ship, then truck and plane.

* The U.S. Fish Hatchery in Northville was the only federal fish hatchery still in existence in Michigan in 1935. By the late 1930s, the National support waned.

* The last remaining hatchery buildings were razed in 1968. The Victorian superintendent’s home, built in 1896, is the only remaining structure from Northville’s fish hatchery industry.

* From the early 1900’s through much of last century, one of its ponds was used as a local swimming pool in the summer and then a community ice rink in the winter.

* Many of the Trout (Brown, Brook & Rainbow) in North America and beyond can be traced to the Northville Fish Hatchery.

* Today, sports, recreational & nature activities take place within its greenspace.

This coming weekend, on Saturday as highlighted above, Trout Unlimited has asked me to speak on the history of the Hatchery in greater detail, highlighting how Northville truly assisted in the Trout recreational fishing in many areas of this country. Please feel free to attend.

In the past few years, over $900K of grant money has been spent on restoration, refurbishment, and terracing of the Johnson Creek area of the park, along with upgrading pathways and park facilities. The final product is truly outstanding! Take a look some time, as this could be a precursor to a connected Northville River Walk in the future.

Keep that Northville Faith and consider strolling around the Fish Hatchery Park for some relaxation and exercise soon!

Brian Turnbull
Mayor – Northville
[email protected] / 248.505.6849

(Reach out to me anytime or forward this communication to others interested.)

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