Otsego Hall, Cooperstown, NY

Smith--Otsego Hall.jpg
Smith--Otsego Hall detail.jpg

Dublin Core

Title

Description

William Cooper founded the village of Cooperstown in 1786, and in 1799 built a large mansion inherited by his son, the novelist James Fenimore Cooper. It was located near the outlet of Otsego Lake, the beginning of the Susquehanna River. A fictionalized version of Otsego Hall appears as "The Mansion House" in his 1823 novel The Pioneers. The bricks-and-mortar version fell into disrepair during Cooper's years of travel in America and Europe; in 1834 he renovated it according to the new Gothic Revival style, pictured here in an undated stereocard.

Cooper died in 1851, the mansion was sold and converted into a hotel, then burned down in 1853. Its brick and timbers had an afterlife, however, when his daughter Susan Fenimore Cooper--an important nature writer--salvaged them to build what she called the "Riverside Cottage." The original Cooper estate now is home to the Baseball Hall of fame and its grounds.

Creator

Smith, Washington G., 1828-1893

Date

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Source

Format

Type

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Steroview

Physical Dimensions

3.5 x 7 in.

Geolocation