Did you know that Point Chautauqua was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who is widely considered to be the father of American landscape architecture; and whose many achievements include the design of Central Park in New York City? Mr. Olmsted laid out Point Chautauqua in 1875 in connection with the formation of a Baptist Assembly, similar in mission to that of the Methodist movement across Chautauqua Lake at Fair Point (later to become Chautauqua Institution). The religious basis for the Assembly did not last, disappearing in the mid 1880’s. But Point Chautauqua has endured over the decades as one of the Lake’s fine residential communities. In 1996, the 80-acre Olmsted-designed district of Point Chautauqua became listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Pictured is an 1890’s lake view of the Point Chautauqua Community.

Reference Credit: Fenton Historical Society; National Register Information System.

Photo Courtesy of C. Malcolm Nichols.