Cooperstown

Cooperstown, residential village in central New York. The seat of Otsego County, Cooperstown is located on the southern shore of Otsego Lake, at the effluence of the Susquehanna River. Primarily a summer resort, the village also has some light industry. Points of interest include the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (1939); the Farmers' Museum; the Fenimore Art House, which contains the headquarters of the New York State Historical Association; and an opera company. The community was settled in the late 1780s by Judge William Cooper, father of the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper, who spent most of his life here. It was incorporated in 1807. Popular legend credits Abner Doubleday with originating the game of baseball here in 1839, although there is little factual basis to the story. Population 2,342 (1980); 2,180 (1990); 2,032 (2000); 1,938 (2005 estimate).