Chautauqua Institution Historic District
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Chautauqua Institution Historic District
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Hall of Philosophy
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| Location | Chautauqua, NY |
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| Nearest city | Jamestown |
| Coordinates | 42°12′35″N 79°28′01″W / 42.20972°N 79.46694°WCoordinates: 42°12′35″N 79°28′01″W / 42.20972°N 79.46694°W |
| Area | 2,070 acres (8.3 km²) |
| Built | 1874 |
| Architect | John Vincent, Lewis Miller |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian and other late 19th and early 20th-century architectural styles. |
| NRHP reference # | 73001168 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | June 19, 1973 |
| Designated NHLD | June 29, 1989 |
The Chautauqua Institution is a non-profit education center and summer resort for adults & youth located on 750 acres (3 km²) in Chautauqua, New York, 17 miles (27 km) northwest of Jamestown in the southwestern part of New York State. The Chautauqua Institution Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was further designated a National Historic Landmark.
It was founded in 1874 by inventor Lewis Miller and Methodist Bishop John Heyl Vincent as a teaching camp for Sunday-school teachers. The teachers would disembark at Palestine Park and begin a course of Bible study that used the Park to teach the geography of the Holy Land.
The Institution has operated each summer since then, gradually expanding its season length and program offerings in the arts, education, religion and music. It offers educational activities to the public during the season, with public events including popular entertainment, theater, symphony, ballet, opera and visual arts exhibitions. The institution also offers a variety of recreational activities, including schools of Special Studies along with, a residential music program of intensive study offered to students aiming for professional careers who audition for admittance into Chautauqua's schools of fine and performing arts.
The physical setting of the Institution defined its development as an assembly. The grounds are situated on the west shoreline of upper Chautauqua Lake. The early tent-camp assembly gave way to cottages and rooming houses, and then hotels, inns and eventually condominiums.
Founder Lewis Miller's daughter, Mina Miller Edison (wife of inventor Thomas Edison) offered literary classes in Fort Myers, Florida, through the Valinda Society. After completing courses, students were given Chautauqua diplomas.
In 1973, the National Park Service added the Institution to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1989, the Department of the Interior designated it a National Historic Landmark District consisting of most of the Institution property between NY 394, formerly NY 17J, the lake and (roughly) Lowell and North Avenues.
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