Otsego Lake Historical Collection

Fenimore Art Museum

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Collection Facts

Extent:

Dates of Original:

c. 1779 - 1958

Historical Context

The Otsego Lake Historical Collection is a selection of primary resources from the Library’s collection that illustrate the landscape and historic importance of Otsego Lake in Cooperstown, NY. This digital gallery was created to accompany an extensive bibliography of secondary sources and Museum objects published by NYSHA Research Library and Fenimore Art Museum. Digitization and creation of the Otsego Lake Historical Collection & Bibliography was made possible by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Scope of Collection

The collection includes postcard and map images of the lake and historic markers, ephemera illustrating lake-related transportation during the 19th and 20th centuries, manuscripts relating to the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition during the American Revolution, and a publication created by former NYSHA librarians with annotations on how Otsego Lake figured into the novels of James Fenimore Cooper.