Chautauqua Institution Historic District

Chautauqua Institution is a 207-acre wooded community along about a mile and a half of Chautauqua Lake shoreline in western New York, enclosed by an iron fence. Cottages, public halls, parks and open spaces sit close together, and the architecture is mainly Victorian, with Gingerbread, Gothic Bracketted and Swiss Chalet details. Landmarks include the 1893 Amphitheater designed by Lewis Miller, the 1881 Athenaeum Hotel, the Hall of Philosophy modeled after the Parthenon, and Palestine Park, a scaled model of the Holy Land begun in 1874. The community grew from a summer assembly founded in 1874 by Lewis Miller and John H. Vincent for Sunday School teachers. It expanded into language, education, theology, arts and music programs, and launched the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, a four-year home reading course for adults. Its platform also hosted debate on public questions, and its music, opera and theatre programs developed in the early twentieth century. It was listed as a district for educational, religious, social and architectural significance.