Last updated: 8/20/2010
Cooperstown, New York
Street Address
5775 State Hwy 80
Cooperstown, NY 13326
Mailing Address
PO Box 30
Cooperstown, NY 13326
phone: 607-547-1450
e-mail: farmersmuseum@gmail.com
web: www.farmersmuseum.org

Staff

Erin Richardson
phone:
Description

The 19th-century Historic Village is comprised of buildings gathered from rural communities around New York state and painstakingly relocated and restored, piece by piece. Each building provides an intimate view of commercial and domestic practices common to rural life in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Dimmick House
Smith Morey Barn
Westcott Shop
Smith Morey Driveshed
Seneca Log House
Herkimer Kitchen and Woodshed
Sweet-Marble Barn
Jonas More House
Pharmacy
Doctor's Office
Middlefield Shop
Bump Tavern
Lippitt Farm House
Todd's General Store
Blacksmith Shop
Filer's Corners School
Samuel Nelson Law Office
Brooks Barn
Farm Unit Shed
Smokehouse
Corncrib
Williams Carriage Shed
Cornwallville Church

In the mid-19th century, the shops of woodworkers, blacksmiths, wheelwrights and cobblers could be found in crossroads villages throughout upstate New York. Itinerant weavers and tinsmiths plied their crafts while passing through the region. Farm women processed wool into yarn. Rural crafts and trades have been a focus of The Farmers' Museum since its founding in the early 1940s. In 1942, the Museum acquired the collection of William B. Sprague, a founder of the Early American Industries Association, who had been collecting and preserving craft tools throughout the Northeast since the 1920s. Sprague's materials form the core of an extensive collection of 19th and early-20th century tools.

In Partnership with Business: The Business Partner Program is an alliance that offers an annual opportunity for businesses to receive significant visibility, recognition, and employee benefits while providing important financial support to an outstanding community resource – The Farmers’ Museum. Partnerships range from $1,000 to $20,000, including in-kind contributions, and can support the general operating expenses or specific exhibitions, events, or programs. Small Businesses have the option of becoming museum members for an unrestricted gift of $500 and above. Partnerships are a great marketing value. Our visitors are your customers, and your potential customers. When you choose to Partner with The Farmers’ Museum, you position your business to the Museum’s visitors (75,000 average annual attendance) and its staff and volunteers.

Weddins and Rentals: The natural beauty and rich history of Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers' Museum create a unique setting for any special event. The museums' expert event planning staff can help you with the details of any function from meetings and conferences to the most formal weddings and receptions. A number of locations throughout the properties are available to accommodate a variety of needs. Cornwallville Church—An eighteenth century Methodist Church, originally moved to The Farmers’ Museum in the early 1960’s. The organ and piano are both functional and each dates from the mid nineteenth century. Seating for up to 175 people.

History

As one of the oldest rural life museums in the country, The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, New York, provides visitors with a unique opportunity to experience 19th-century rural and village life firsthand through demonstrations and interpretive exhibits. The museum, founded in 1943, comprises a working farmstead, a recreated historic village, a Country Fair featuring The Empire State Carousel, and a Colonial Revival stone barn listed on the National Register for Historic Places, The museum preserves important examples of upstate New York architecture, early agricultural tools and equipment, and heritage livestock. Its collection of more than 23,000 items encompasses significant historic objects ranging from butter molds to carriages, hand planes to plows. The museum presents a broad range of interactive educational programs for school groups, families, and adults that explore and preserve the rich agricultural history of the region.

Exhibitions
Museum Events
DISCLAIMER
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MUSEUM CONFERENCES

Public Lands Alliance 2025 Convention and Trade Show

February 2 - 6, 2025

Las Vegas, Nevada

Georgia Association of Museums 2025 Conference

February 5 - 7, 2025

Milledgeville, Georgia

Small Museum Association 41st Annual Conference 2025

February 17 - 19, 2025

Gaithersburg, Maryland

2025 California Association of Museums Conference

February 18 - 22, 2025

San Fransico, California

2025 Tennessee Association of Museums Conference: HOPE

March 11 - 14, 2025

Knoxville, Tennessee

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