"... In spite of losses of eggs and fry in excess of 850,000, the hatchery staff was able to incubate and release an estimated 15.2 million fry into Tanner Creek or at nearby points along the Columbia. In the fall of 1910 the Central Hatchery began receiving new supplies of eggs: 2.1 million from the McKenzie River; 1.8 million from the Wallowa River; 232,000 from the Salmon River in Idaho; 2.5 million from the Umpqua; 600,000 early chinook and 3.4 million late chinook eggs from the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. These combined sources meant that the hatchery employees had 10.7 million eggs to care for as well as 1.5 million sockeye salmon eggs from Yes Bay Hatchery in Alaska. To cope with these rearing responsibilities, the staff worked hard to construct rearing ponds where they could feed the gry until their release into the Columbia. ... In 1910 ... Warden Clanton went to the cannerymen and packers along the Columbia to solicit their assistance and secured contributions of $1,500. Using these funds, Clanton had the crews at the Central Hatchery construct three ponds, each 100 feet by 20 feet and three feet deep. ... The ponds at Bonneville functioned so successfully that the Fish Warden proposed in 1911 that all hatcheries in Oregon construct rearing ponds. The pond system at the Central Hatchery was expanded steadily so that by the end of the year fifteen large ponds held the fry. The crews constructed a new flume to carry water from Tanner Creek to flush these rearing facilities. ..." [DENIX Website, 2006, Bonneville Dam Historic District, National Historic Landmark 1986 Nomination Package]

In 1957 the facility was remodeled and expanded as part of the Columbia River Fisheries Development Program (Mitchell Act). The hatchery underwent another renovation in 1974 as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's mitigation of fish losses from the construction of the John Day Dam.