Samuel W. Pennypacker was governor of Pennsylvania in 1903 when the Wayne Hatchery #4 was built in Pleasant Mount. Wayne Hatchery #4 originally sat on 14 acres of property donated by Alison B. Sterling. The major water source is the Lackawaxen River via Beaver Meadows Reservoir (Belmont Lake), obtained in 1917. Around the same time, other waterways, including Miller Pond and White Oak Pond, were purchased from the D&H Canal Company. 

Over the years the Pleasant Mount Fish Culture Station grew to include ponds, raceways and buildings containing interior concrete raceways, fiberglass tanks and egg incubation units, producing thousands of fish each year. 
In the 1920s, the hatchery became a major tourist attraction, with fish displays especially attractive to children. The family-friendly picnic tables and grassy expanses suitable for running and games made it a Mecca for visitors from near and far. Tourism, of course, is a side benefit to the main purpose of the hatchery: raising fish to stock various bodies of water throughout the eastern Pennsylvania. 

From the collection of the Wayne County Historical Society, 810 Main St., Honesdale. The museum and research library are open Friday and Saturday, 10 a. m. to 4 p. m.