Fun for children but little antique farm equipment
It was a fun stop, our late afternoon visit to the Cooperstown Farmers’ Museum. To us as adults looking at what had been collected and what was on display, “Farmers’ Museum” seemed like a misnomer. But they did have many animals for the children to see – goats, chickens, turkeys, cattle, sheep, and probably pigs that we didn’t see. It would have been a really fun stop for kids also has they have a splendid working carousel, and some tents set up for children to explore games of that era, to get their pictures dressed up in old fashioned clothes, and even a simulated milk-the-cow station. What was missing that we expected from the title was antique farm equipment. Aside from a couple carriages near the entrance we didn’t see any.
A good cross section of 1830’s village life
I think the intent was to help a visitor understand the nature of village life around the time that baseball was invented back in the 1830’s. And the buildings mostly seemed consistent with that goal. There was a very active blacksmith shop with two blacksmiths, a print shop, an apothecary, a doctor’s office complete with some of the pre-civil war crude tools used, a tavern, of course, and a very old one-room schoolhouse. The people who were dressed up in period costumes had obviously studied and become somewhat knowledgeable about their areas too. The old church was of very early design with divisions in the pews and balconies on both sides. The doors on either side of the pulpit seemed unusual and made me wonder if the building had been reversed and added onto in its history since the history said it had been used by more than one group. Were the two doors originally male and female entrances as some of the very earliest colonial churches had? JoAnne and Jane Kinney enjoyed watching the weavers who were busy at work in two different old houses. Another farmhouse had a working stone fireplace. Earlier in the day in a room made for that purpose, they had been making butter. There were cottage gardens and herb gardens too.
Recommended
We found it very interesting and worthwhile, a recommended stop.
I was a bit disappointed with the farmer’s museum. They had a collection of some old farm equipment in the upper part of the first building, but I was hoping the might have a old steam tractor or something, but no luck…
I was hoping to see antique farm equipment as well. I guess that was what the name brought to mind for me. Maybe this points to a way they can add significantly to their collection. I can see a building with a rotating display involving antique equipment–perhaps on loan from other musems or from a larger collection stored elsewhere.