Home base: the national baseball hall of fame and museum (2006)

Nestled between the Adirondacks and the Catskills in central New York State, the pastoral village of Cooperstown has a mighty mission: to preserve and protect the story of America’s Game at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Baseball has been America’s national pastime for nearly 150 years. Founded in 1939, today’s museum preserves history, honors excellence and connects generations through the story of baseball and America, featuring more than 35,000 artifacts, two million documents, 500,000 historic photographs, and 10,000 hours of original TV and radio recordings. The adjoining Hall of Fame contains the plaques of more than 275 of baseball’s immortals, including the first five men elected in 1936 – Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, and Walter Johnson.