Cortland Country Music Park-campground

History

Cortland Country Music Park & Campground, in Cortland rather than Ithaca, grew from musician Merlin Reynolds’s plan for a New York country-music hall of fame. After Lake Mary Campground went bankrupt in 1984, Dr. John Eckel and Loretta Eckel bought the property. Volunteers turned a pole barn into the Opry Barn, added an outdoor stage, and expanded the campground (now about 106 sites). The park’s hall of fame displays clothes and memorabilia from Loretta Lynn, Kenny Rogers, Kitty Wells, Roy Clark, and others who played there. (cortlandcountrymusicpark.org; 981 The Hawk.)