Fred Richan collection

Fred Richan was born in Provo, Utah in 1904 and raised in Eureka, Utah. He graduated from Provo High School in 1922, and he went on to attend Brigham Young University. In 1928, he graduated from BYU with a B.S. in zoology.

In 1930, Richan went to work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department in Bozeman, Montana. Subsequently, he held positions in the department at Glacier National Park in Wyoming and Springfield, Utah. He married Henriette Kessels on November 12, 1932.

Richan and his wife moved to San Marcos, Texas in 1943 where he served as the manager of the National Fish Hatchery until his retirement in 1963. During his tenure as manager, the fish hatchery was located on land that was transferred to the University. He lived on the grounds of the hatchery for about twenty years while serving as manager.

In 1967, Richan assisted in the opening of the Aquatic Station office at Southwest Texas State College. In 1983, Richan worked closely with Southwest Texas State University to develop the Aquatic Biology Development Fund, which is used to support activities of students and faculty engaged in research and management of streams, rivers, ponds, and reservoirs in Central Texas.

Richan passed away at age eighty-six in San Marcos, Texas on April 11, 1990. Right before his passing in January, a lab in the Harold M. Freeman Aquatic Biology Building was dedicated to him.

The original hatchery was located near the headwaters of the San Marcos River and was the first warm water hatchery west of the Mississippi River. The hatchery opened in the mid-1890's and for over 60 years the hatchery mission was the production and development of efficient cultural techniques of warm water sport fishes.

The original hatchery was later donated to Texas State University, then Southwest Texas State College, in the 1960's. Texas State University in turn donated the 116 acres of land south of San Marcos for a new facility. San Marcos National Fish Hatchery and Cultural Development Center was dedicated in 1976, and the name was later changed to San Marcos National Fish Hatchery and Technology Center in 1983, and to the San Marcos Aquatic Resources Center in 2012. The Center currently works with listed aquatic species associated with the Edwards Aquifer and other Texas spring systems.

Dr. Herbert H. Hannan graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1957 with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Biology. He went to earn a M.A.T degree from Brown University in 1961 and returned to SWT to finish his M.A. in 1963. He joined the Biology Department faculty in 1960 and taught until 1989. While teaching he earned his Ph.D. in 1967 from Oklahoma State University, and was named chairman of the Biology department twice (1970, 1980)

As the first director of the Aquatic Station, he engaged with Fred Richan often. After teaching part-time for ten years, he retired in 1998.