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Things You Should Not Miss
* Let's not kid ourselves. If
you're making a trip to Cooperstown, you are interested in the history
of baseball. And no historian or fan of the national pastime is
going to pass up the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
The museum is a treat, containing not only the Hall where the plaques
of each player enshrined into its confines fill the walls, but
thousands of exhibits, plus a multi-media show that starts the
proceedings. The Hall of Fame is open for long hours, and even
the passing fan will spend half the day in its galleries.
* For those looking for a bargain, check whether the Hall of Fame is holding its Free Evening proposal during their extended summer months. The Hall is traditionally open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and in past years, if you bought your ticket after 7:00 p.m. one evening, you can visit the next day for free. This gives the fan an extra few hours to wander its halls, plus a break for those not quite as interested.
* Make sure to take in some of the interactive programs in the Bullpen Theatre where museum staff conducts programs such as the Recreate a Radio Broadcast. Great for children, this program allows them to take part in the historic past when radio announcers would recreate each game of the season.
* Be one of the few visitors to the Farmer's Museum to hike the Mt. Orvis hill behind the main village. There you will find the Seneca Log House, from the Tonawanda Reservation, which represents a traditional Seneca Indian dwelling from 1780. You'll be surprised by the way it looks.
* Take a leisurely stroll through town. Whether this is at twilight or in the middle of the day, take time to follow in the footsteps of James Fenimore Cooper (pictured above) or Abner Doubleday (yes, this was the reason why the Hall of Fame was located here) as you wander around the streets of their home town. Around every corner, the turn of the century residences, and older, will keep you wondering just how lucky it is for the residents of this town of two thousand people that they live here.
* The Historic Hyde Hall. Located north of town in Glimmerglass State Park, this neo-classic mansion with fifty rooms overlooking Otsego Lake, is undergoing renovation, which can be witnessed by visitors.
Farmer's Museum
Fenimore Art Museum
Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce
Cooperstown Getaway
Mirror Lake Inn Resort & Spa
Otesaga Resort Hotel
Hyde Hall
* For those looking for a bargain, check whether the Hall of Fame is holding its Free Evening proposal during their extended summer months. The Hall is traditionally open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and in past years, if you bought your ticket after 7:00 p.m. one evening, you can visit the next day for free. This gives the fan an extra few hours to wander its halls, plus a break for those not quite as interested.
* Make sure to take in some of the interactive programs in the Bullpen Theatre where museum staff conducts programs such as the Recreate a Radio Broadcast. Great for children, this program allows them to take part in the historic past when radio announcers would recreate each game of the season.
* Be one of the few visitors to the Farmer's Museum to hike the Mt. Orvis hill behind the main village. There you will find the Seneca Log House, from the Tonawanda Reservation, which represents a traditional Seneca Indian dwelling from 1780. You'll be surprised by the way it looks.
* Take a leisurely stroll through town. Whether this is at twilight or in the middle of the day, take time to follow in the footsteps of James Fenimore Cooper (pictured above) or Abner Doubleday (yes, this was the reason why the Hall of Fame was located here) as you wander around the streets of their home town. Around every corner, the turn of the century residences, and older, will keep you wondering just how lucky it is for the residents of this town of two thousand people that they live here.
* The Historic Hyde Hall. Located north of town in Glimmerglass State Park, this neo-classic mansion with fifty rooms overlooking Otsego Lake, is undergoing renovation, which can be witnessed by visitors.
Lodging and Camping
There is plenty of lodging in the town of Cooperstown, but don't expect the traditional off the Interstate hotels and motels. Most of the lodging within the confines of the town are quaint bed and breakfasts, high end tourist hotels from the time of the turn of the century, and smaller motels along the lake and elsewhere. There are some of the chains located on the roads going to and from Cooperstown. Plenty of camping sites are within a half hour or so drive in private and public campgrounds. Check the tourist bureau of Cooperstown and other travel sites for the lodging or camping that best suits your needs.Cooperstown Links
National Baseball Hall of Fame and MuseumFarmer's Museum
Fenimore Art Museum
Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce
Cooperstown Getaway
Mirror Lake Inn Resort & Spa
Otesaga Resort Hotel
Nearby Attractions
Cooperstown Otsego County TourismHyde Hall
Cooperstown Then and Now
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Cooperstown Then |
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Baseball Hall of Fame
 Established in 1939 to honor the
best players in baseball history, the National Baseball Hall of Fame
includes a variety of exhibits within its expanded galleries.
From the Grandstand Theater to the Cooperstown room all the way to the
Women in Baseball Exhibit and the Hall of Fame Plaques, the Baseball
Hall of Fame will envelope even the most casual fan into the legacy of
the game that has enveloped the nation with its rich history for the
past one hundred and fifty years. You don't have to be among
those armed with knowledge about the debate on its founder (Abner
Doubleday or Alexander Cartwright the two most likely) or whether the
sacrifice bunt is appropriate when playing one run down on the road in
the last inning to know that what you are witnessing here within the
brick walls of this stately museum in Cooperstown is the past history
of the United States in a pure fashion, one many wish we could return
toward. The three floors of exhibits cover the entire history of
the game, from the Major Leagues inception in 1871, whether that be
National, American, Pacific, or Negro, through the final out of last
year's World Series.
Farmers' MuseumPast the main entrance to the
Farmers' Museum, (below) a large collection of 1840s buildings saved
from various sites around the state represent a village and farm circa
1840. A large display inside the farm show structure covers the
history of Otsego Lake and its inhabitants with a second floor showroom
of farm implements and machinery. Once outside, you can marvel at
the reconstruction of these historic buildings and the historic
reenactments of handicrafts and such things as hops harvesting, plus
special exhibits throughout the year.
Fenimore Art Museum Housed in a stately 1930s mansion with porticos that overlook the clear water of Otsego Lake (pictured right above) and the fairways of the Leatherstocking Golf Course, the Fenimore Art Museum, under the direction of the New York State Historical Association, includes a grand collection of American folk art, including the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art. You can also see the memorabilia associated with author James Fenimore Cooper among its collection. |
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Cooperstown Now |
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* The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Newly refurbished in the past several years. * The Cooperstown Dreams Park and American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame. * Trolley Transportation. For a single daily fee, you can park on the outskirts of town, ride the trolley's around the quaint streets of Cooperstown, and never see your car from sunup to sundown. The trolleys take visitors from the downtown area of shops, restaurants, the Hall of Fame and Doubleday Field to the attractions along the lake, including the Fenimore Art Gallery and the Farmer's Museum. * Glimmerglass Lake Tours. Along the waterfront below the Cooperstown main street, tours on Lake Otsego embark from the wharf. (Picture right of Lake Tour dock) * Inns and hotels with a history all their own. Whether you like to be pampered at some of the most historic hotels in the area, including the AAA four diamond resorts of Otesaga Resort Hotel, the Cooper Inn, the Mirror Lake Inn, or other lesser touted inns, on virtually every street corner sit Victorian mansions turned into bed and breakfast lodgings. * Other nearby attractions include Howe Caverns and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, New York, thirty miles south.
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