Thirty years before the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum opened in 1939, a more impressive structure — just an eight-minute walk away — opened its doors to the public in Cooperstown, New York. Yet, many travelers are unaware of the glories of the Otesaga, a picturesque lakeside resort hotel built with massive 30-foot columns and 400 wraparound windows.
The Otesaga stands on the southern shore of Otsego Lake, which author James Fenimore Cooper called “Glimmerglass” in his novels. The hotel and the well-known Dakota apartment building adjacent to New York’s Central Park were built by the family of Edward Cabot Clark, who founded the Singer sewing machine company.
“The external appearance of the hotel has not changed since it was constructed,” says Paul Kuhn, a local resident who once owned a business that provided guided tours of Cooperstown. “It is a classic example of neocolonial architecture designed by Percy Griffin of New York City. Numerous upgrades to the interior have been made over time, and they continue to this day.”
A well-manicured front lawn set up for croquet adds to the visual charm outside the front doors, and the rear of the hotel offers waterside outdoor and indoor dining and beautiful views of the lake and surrounding woodlands.
The hotel’s 18-hole Leatherstocking Golf Course, dubbed by Golf Digest as one of the country’s “most fun” courses, wraps around the lake’s western shore. “Baseball's Hall of Fame hogs the attention, but, in most towns, a course this historic, scenic and entertaining would be the No. 1 attraction,” Golf Digest says.
Cooperstown is actually a village — not a town — one of only 12 villages in New York state. It was established in 1786 as the Village of Otsego by merchant William Cooper after he bought 10,000 acres of land from George Croghan, a colonel who served with George Washington in the French & Indian War. In 1807, the village’s name was changed to Cooperstown in honor of Cooper whose son James would gain fame for writing The Last of the Mohicans and other novels.
Today, Cooperstown is a tiny village in central New York state with a population less than 2,000. Besides the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which will induct Derek Jeter, Ted Simmons, Larry Walker and Marvin Miller next month, it’s the home of the Ommegang brewery, the Farmers’ Museum and the Fenimore Art Museum.
The brewery, which has a café and a patio, stands on scenic grounds with views of rolling hills and hosts numerous events, including live music, beer, food and a bonfire on Fire Pit Fridays. Two other craft beer breweries, Red Shed and Council Rock, are nearby.
There are also plenty of activities at the Otesaga, a four-minute drive to the museums and a 12-minute drive to Ommegang. Guests can swim in a heated outdoor pool, swim or fish in the lake and rent kayaks, canoes, paddleboards and rowboats. Walking and cycling paths lead around the lake, two all-weather tennis courts are across the street and a spa offers massages and facials.
The resort “is a welcome dining and gathering place for locals and employs approximately 350 full-time and seasonal staff,” Kuhn says. “It is a magnet for hundreds of social gatherings, weddings and business meetings. Many visitors to Cooperstown have no particular interest in baseball or the opera at the summertime Glimmerglass Festival but have interest in Cooperstown's rich history and architecture and are lured by the Otesaga's part in that history.”
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Hotel Takes No Backseat To National Baseball Hall Of Fame - Forbes
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