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The crack of a bat. The thump of a ball hitting a mitt. The chimes of an organ playing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” All are unmistakable sounds of America’s pastime and surefire signs that the boys of summer have returned. One place that celebrates baseball’s long history like no other is Cooperstown, New York—home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Step outside the diamond, though, and you’ll get a fuller picture of how much there is to see and do in and around this sports mecca, especially during warm-weather months.
Unique origins
You may rightfully wonder: How did this small village (population of around 1,800) in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains in central New York become baseball’s epicenter rather than, say, opening it two hundred miles south in the Bronx (home of the New York Yankees)?
Officially, it is where baseball began, though perhaps the achievement should come with an asterisk. Abner Doubleday has largely been credited with creating the athletic endeavor and its rules, reportedly in 1839 while he was teaching in the village. What people don’t know is that Doubleday was a decorated Civil War general—a fact that complicated matters since research later discovered that he was training at West Point during that time. The truth is that baseball has unknown origins but was likely a variation of an old English game.
Nonetheless, the legend stuck and became its own lore, including when the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was founded one century later; it has since become Cooperstown’s top attraction. Instead of being a field of dreams, though, this is a gallery of dreams for any sports fan, having welcomed over eighteen million visitors to its 60,000-square-foot facility. While here, you can gaze at more than a dozen exhibits curated from the museum’s collections of more than 250,000 images and 40,000-plus artifacts. The Hall of Fame houses everything from the curious (such as some members’ weapons and uniforms worn by the tallest and shortest players in MLB history) to the cherished (e.g., Babe Ruth’s bat and Hank Aaron’s uniform from when they set legendary home run records; the glove Willie Mays used to make “The Catch”). In addition, you can lose yourself for hours in its library and research center, which is home to three million baseball documents—it’s so frequented, in fact, that reservations are highly recommended.
As memorable as going through this museum is, it certainly isn’t the only baseball-related fun you can have here. For instance, add a couple of ballparks to your itinerary: Doubleday Field and Damaschke Field. The former is a legendary 9,800-seat stadium dubbed “the birthplace of baseball” and hosts community events throughout the year, while the latter is a century-old structure that’s the home of the Oneonta Outlaws collegiate summer league team. You can even take a personalized piece of your trip home with you by getting your own custom-made wooden bat created at Cooperstown Bat Company.
Cultural Cooperstown
The Hall of Fame may be the most popular institution here, but it’s not the only cultural attraction to take in—there’s a reason Cooperstown is known as “the Village of Museums,” after all. For example, art lovers should visit the Fenimore Art Museum, which is set in a 1933 neo-Georgian mansion. From folk art to photography, there’s plenty to take in, including paintings from Georgia O’Keeffe and John Singer Sargent. Unsurprisingly, there’s also a collection dedicated to the village’s namesakes, the Coopers, most notably portraits of its founder, businessman William Cooper, and one of his sons, author James Fenimore Cooper, whose literary works include The Last of the Mohicans.
After your visit, be sure to stop at Fenimore Farm and Country Village, a living history museum located just across the street on Route 80. As the name indicates, it’s a throwback—to nineteenth-century living, specifically—where you can greet animals, peruse century-old barns and houses, see exhibitions, patronize its general store, and more. Is music more your muse? The Glimmerglass Festival will enrapture you, with the seasonal opera company staging new productions in its intimate 918-seat theater from mid-July through mid-August.
Outdoors in Otsego County
Speaking of Glimmerglass, the music venue is not the only hot spot with the name in this region. Glimmerglass State Park, an amazing outdoor oasis located about eight miles northeast of the village, is one of many places of interest around Otsego Lake, a nine-mile body of water that Cooperstown sits at the bottom of. At this green space, you can enjoy not only hiking, walking, and biking picturesque trails (replete with wildlife like muskrats) but also relaxing on the bucolic lake’s beach.
In addition, you can literally walk through history at this park. For example, it’s only a short stroll from its main road to Hyde Hall Covered Bridge, the oldest existing bridge of its kind in America. And be sure to take a tour of nearby Hyde Hall, a nineteenth-century mansion-turned-national historic landmark and museum. It not only stands as a dazzling example of neoclassical architecture but also offers amazing views of both Otsego Lake and the area’s rolling hills.
Not to be undone, Cooperstown itself has its own enthralling park, Lakefront Park, a charming area featuring picnic areas, relaxing views of the southern tip of the lake, and its own marina. Perhaps best of all, it’s located right near the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Food, drink, and fun
Here’s another little-known fact about Cooperstown: it was once the hops-growing capital of the country. In honor of its past, the village created the Cooperstown Beverage Trail, a thirty-seven-mile, eight-stop itinerary featuring the area’s top beverages—from Belgian beer to wine to hard cider—that includes Fly Creek Cider Mill & Orchard, voted the best cidery in America by USA Today readers.
There’s plenty of family-friendly food, drink, and frivolity to be had as well. A good example is Barnyard Swing mini golf, which not only offers putting adventures but also a dairy bar, gem mining, stuffed animal building, and a digital gaming wall with dozens of options. The village’s self-titled farmers market near Doubleday Field provides the best of fresh food on Saturdays year-round and on Tuesdays during summer. Finally, consider a pair of unique ways to get around while seeing the many sights: trolley and Rail Explorer. Cooperstown Village Trolley drops you off right at many of the major attractions in the village; in contrast, the Explorer is a fascinating self-propelled buggy on tracks that you ride on a miles-long loop (such as along the Susquehanna River) while soaking in various views.
If you really want to knock a spring or summer vacation destination out of the park, you can’t beat a visit to Cooperstown, New York. You may travel here for baseball, but you’ll stay for the village’s unbeatable rustic charm.
For more info, visit thisiscooperstown.com
