This sylvan tract known as Miller Park honors the memory of Lewis Miller, co-founder in 1874 with Methodist Bishop John Heyl Vincent of the Chautauqua Assembly now known as Chautauqua Institution. Like that of Lewis Miller himself, the history of Miller Park is indelibly inscribed in the annals of Chautauqua Institution. Chautauqua's first program was held in this grove which served as the first amphitheater. Surrounding this park were the earliest Chautauqua homes, usually tents erected on wooden platforms and later developed into frame houses. The visitor viewing this memorial marker will see by directing attenetion toward the lake the Lewis Miller bell tower which stands upon Fair Point, site of the old steamer dock, the original gateway to the institution. Close by, in the opposite direction, stands the chalet-type Miller Cottage, the first permanent cottage at Chautauqua. Indicative of Lewis Miller's genius is that the cottage was among the earliest examples of prefabrication. It was precut in his home city of Akron, Ohio, and was assembled here in time for President Ulysses S. Grant's visit in 1875. Originally, the home was composed of the main structure with a tent annex to it's [sic] right. In 1966, the Miller Cottage was designated a Registered National Historic Landmark. Thomas Alva Edison married
one of Lewis Miller's children, Mina, and was a frequent visitor to the cottage. Lewis Miller was an inventor, a businessman, and an educator. His talents combined with those of Bishop Vincent to foretell Chautauqua's continuing greatness.
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