Cooperstown, New York Overview
Cooperstown is located in upstate New York, about an hour and a half west of New York's capital, Albany. Cooperstown sits in a triangle formed by three highways including Interstate 81, Interstate 88, and Interstate 90. State Highway 28 and 80, and County Highway 33 all pass through Cooperstown. Cooperstown is located on the southern banks of picturesque Otsego Lake, known as "Glimmerglass" from James Fenimore Cooper's novels.
Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York. It was founded in 1787 by William Cooper who was a judge and a member of Congress. It was incorporated in 1807 as The Village of Otsego, but changed its name to The Village of Cooperstown in 1812. At its incorporation, Cooperstown had a population of 686 people. That has grown to slightly over 2,000 people. Cooperstown is perhaps best known as home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Things to Do in Cooperstown
As home to The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, which is located on Main Street, a large number of the things to do in Cooperstown center around baseball. Baseball attractions and events in Cooperstown include:
- The Baseball Wax Museum, which is a wax museum dedicated to baseball with three floors of attractions.
- Cooperstown Dreams Park, which is home to the American Youth Baseball Hall Of Fame, and the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame Invitational Tournaments.
- Doubleday Field, which is an almost 10,000 seat minor league ballpark that has been in existence since 1920. It is home to Major League Baseball's annual Hall of Fame Game.
- The Doubleday Batting range, which is a batting cage located next to Doubleday Field. It is the oldest batting cage open to the public in the United States.
- The Hall of Fame Game Weekend, which is a weekend of events centered upon the annual Hall of Fame Game. The Hall of Fame game is an in-season exhibition game between two Major League Baseball clubs played at Doubleday Field.
- Hall of Fame Induction Weekend, which is a weekend of activities that includes the annual induction of the next class of baseball's hall of famers.
- The National Baseball Hall of Fame, which is the hall of fame for baseball in the United States. Dedicated in 1939, the Hall of Fame consists of three floors of baseball exhibits, memorabilia, and information, including the famous Plaque Gallery that holds all of the plaques of inductees.
There are also many other things to do in and around Cooperstown that are not centered upon baseball. Other notable activities and events include:
- Bear Pond Wines in Oneonta
- Brewery Ommegang
- Cooperstown Candlelight Ghost Tours
- The Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival
- The Farmers' Museum
- The Fenimore Art Museum
- Fly Creek Cider Mill in Fly Creek
- The Glimmerglass Opera
- The Glimmerglass Queen Tour Boat
- The Leatherstocking Golf Course
- Howe Caverns in Howe Cave, New York
- The National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta
For more information about Cooperstown see Nutty About Sports article"Visiting the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York".
