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Essential Architecture- New England Cooperstown |
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New York State |
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Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York, and best known
as the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The
population was 2,032 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Otsego
CountyGR6. Cooperstown was named after and founded by Judge William
Cooper, the father of author James Fenimore Cooper. The Village of Cooperstown was established in 1786 and incorporated (as the "Village of Otsego") on April 3, 1807; the name was legally changed to "Village of Cooperstown" in 1812. Most of the village lies inside the Town of Otsego, but part is in the Town of Middlefield. Geography Cooperstown is located at 42°41'50?N, 74°55'37?W (42.697335, -74.926913)GR1. The source of the Susquehanna River is Cooperstown, which is on Otsego Lake. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 4.1 km² (1.6 mi²). 4.0 km² (1.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (2.53%) is water. Demographics As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 2,032 people, 906 households, and 479 families residing in the village. The population density was 509.5/km² (1,317.5/mi²). There were 1,070 housing units at an average density of 268.3/km² (693.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 96.21% White, 0.94% African American, 0.10% Native American, 1.62% Asian, 0.34% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.31% of the population. There were 906 households out of which 23.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.9% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.1% were non-families. 41.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.05 and the average family size was 2.83. In the village the population was spread out with 20.2% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 26.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 81.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.8 males. The median income for a household in the village was $36,992, and the median income for a family was $50,250. Males had a median income of $39,625 versus $20,595 for females. The per capita income for the village was $26,799. About 5.0% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.5% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over. Cooperstown facts Cooperstown is perhaps best known as the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Folklore tells that Abner Doubleday invented baseball on a cow pasture within the Village in 1839. (The actual origins of baseball are much less clear.) Part of the film A League of Their Own was filmed in Cooperstown. Also present in or around Cooperstown are a number of other attractions. These include the Farmers' Museum, the Fenimore Art Museum, The New York State Historical Association's (NYSHA) library, Brewery Ommegang, and the Clark Sports Center (a large fitness facility). All construction in the village is closely monitored by a village board, so the buildings have maintained a historical feel to a certain extent. Cooperstown gets a large amount of monetary "support" from The Clark Foundation. The Clark family, who became wealthy off of the patent for the Singer Sewing Machine, has "donated" money for a variety of causes including "decorating" the village, scholarships, and "village construction projects." Jane Forbes Clark, the primary family heir, has purchased strategic real estate to ensure the preservation of the entry points to the Village. As well as overseen the real estate expansion of the various Clark holdings. The Village has a strong zoning policy in place and the Village Board discourages businesses not in keep with the character of the town or what may be an economic risk. The internationally renowned Glimmerglass Opera is closely associated with Cooperstown. Founded in 1975, the company originally performed in the auditorium of the Cooperstown High School. In 1987, the opera company relocated to farmland donated by Tom Goodyear of the Cary Mede Estate 8 miles north of the village, where it built the acclaimed Alice Busch Opera Theater, the first American hall built specifically for opera since 1966. Cooperstown was home to Henry Nicols, the Eagle Scout who in 1991 revealed that he had contracted HIV through a blood transfusion, about whom the HBO documentary "Eagle Scout: The Story of Henry Nicols" was made. Cooperstown's downtown has undergone significant change over recent decades. Through the 1970s, Main Street was still home to no fewer than five grocery stores, including Danny's Market, Pic N Pay, Victory (less than a block off Main), and an A&P. Western Auto had a branch on Main Street. JJ Newberry's had a two story five and dime with a counter food area. Smalley's Theatre, originally a stage theatre, had a single screen across from a Farm & Home store. With the Post Office, Library, and Clark Gymnasium, as well as the Baseball Hall of Fame, Main Street of Cooperstown represented a true village meeting square. The grocery stores are gone now, with the 1976 Great American supermarket still available on the outskirts of town in a former bowling alley. Western Auto and Farm & Home are also gone. Smalley's Theatre is now a collection of baseball memorabilia shops. Newberry's has been replaced with a single floor "store", the stairs to the downstairs floor boarded over. Main Street now has primarily stores for the tourist rather than for residents of Cooperstown. Among the few stores remaining from years past are The Cupboard and FR Woods, both of which have newstand and memorabilia materials - both which offer little to the meager demands of Cooperstown inhabitants. (The Cupboard actually closed after 2000.) Less than 2 miles northwest of the town center sits the original Cooperstown Airport, represented by two paved runways, and closed since the late 1960s. Cooperstown is now served by a small grass runway at the Cooperstown-Westville Airport and a paved runway to the south at Oneonta. The Village Offices, Land Cooperstown Art Association are housed in a neoclassical building, designed by famed architect Ernest Flagg, who also did the 47-story Singer building in Manhattan and Boldt Castle in the St. Lawrence River. It was originally was commissioned by Elizabeth Scriven Clark in 1898 as a YMCA. Robert Sterling Clark, son of Elizabeth, gave it to the village in 1932. Several prominent residences and building were designed by or updated by noted architect Frank P. Whiting who worked originally under Ernest Flagg. A resident of NYC and Cooperstown, Whiting was also a noted artist. Whiting designed among other buildings the Farmers Museum farm buildings, the Fenimore Art Museum, the shingle-style manor house at Leatherstocking Falls Farm (residence of the late Dorothy Stokes Bostwick Smith Campbell), and the residence at 56 Lake Street. Cooperstown architecture was featured in the 1923 edition of The White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs (Volume IX; ) written by Frank Whiting. |
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