We stopped in Cooperstown, New York to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. As much as we both enjoy baseball -Joe played through high school- we probably would not have visited Cooperstown if it hadn’t been on our way from The Clark Art Institute to our main destination, Keuka Lake in the NY Finger Lakes. So, we decided to stop in for a visit!

The Baseball Hall of Fame was established and financed by Stephen Carlton Clark in 1939. If you have been following our posts, the Clark surname may be familiar to you. Stephen is the brother of Robert Sterling Clark, who established The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Both men inherited great wealth from their grandfather, Edwin Cabot Clark, a partner of Isaac Singer of the Singer Sewing Machine Company.

Stephen Carlton Clark, who resided in both New York City and Cooperstown, did not establish The Baseball Hall of Fame solely due to his love for baseball. The construction of the Hall of Fame was intended to bring tourism to the Cooperstown community, which was hurt by the Great Depression and the loss of the hops agriculture industry due to Prohibition. The Hall of Fame now attracts over a quarter of a million visitors to Cooperstown each year.

There are 351 inductees in the Hall of Fame as of 2025. Inductees are not limited to players but also include owners, umpires and other notable individuals associated with baseball.

The museum portion houses over 40,000 “three dimensional” artifacts related to all things baseball. You will see an amazing collection of baseball bats, balls, gloves and uniforms. The are dozens of exhibits reviewing baseball statistics, the integration of Major League Baseball, Women in baseball and videos of exciting field play. However, some of the exhibits are only peripherally related to baseball and may surprise you. Here are a few that we enjoyed.

If you go, especially in the summer or on weekends, expect to experience significant crowds of visitors. Vehicles over 20 feet in length are not permitted to park on the streets of Cooperstown. RV parking is available at the Red Trolley Stop located an easy 15 minute walk from downtown Cooperstown and at also the other two trolley stops. Parking is free and vehicles under 35 feet should have no difficulty parking. The Cooperstown Village Trolley is also an easy way to visit other nearby attractions.

We don’t usually talk about food but we had a terrific hot dog at the Cooperstown Diner located a few blocks from the Hall of Fame. After all, what else would you eat after visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum?

Well, maybe this…..

Thanks for going “Ontour” with us. We will have a little more to share about the Cooperstown area in our next post. Please register at our home page if you would like to be alerted to new posts.