The Cooper Inn took three years to build starting in 1813 and finished in 1816. Henry Phinney was the youngest son of Elihu Phinney, Sr., the pioneer printer and newspaper publisher who established Cooperstown as a major printing center in the western frontier of Central New York. Phinney was a bachelor without direct heirs. The property was sold after his death and changed ownership several times until it was purchased by the Clark family in 1927. Family members lived there until 1939 when it was converted into The Cooper Inn and became Cooperstown’s premier year-round lodging destination of its time. The original Cooper Inn included a complete kitchen and grill room in the basement, with 4 bedrooms upstairs. When the National Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown in 1939, The Cooper Inn expanded to 20 guest rooms and 11 baths. An additional restoration effort in 1999 added 4 more baths and modernized all of The Inn’s amenities.