Your Chautauqua Real Estate Guide
We specialize in the area surrounding Chautauqua Lake. Chautauqua County real estate include Ashville, Bemus Point, Cassadaga, Celoron, Chautauqua, Chautauqua Institution, Dewittville, Falconer, Frewsburg, Gerry, Greenhurst, Harmony, Jamestown, Kennedy, Lakewood, Maple Springs, Mayville, North Harmony, Stow, Westfield, and the surrounding Chautauqua County area. We not only sell real estate but we can show you why Chautauqua County is our home.
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Chautauqua Summer Homes
Chautauqua County, located in the westernmost part of New York State, is a resort area centered around famed Chautauqua Lake. Its western border is Lake Erie.
The County lies approximately 70 miles southwest of Buffalo, 50 miles northeast of Erie, PA and is served by the major airports in those cities as well as the Chautauqua County Airport. Interstate routes I-86 and I-90 connect with major eastern, Canadian and western cities and markets.
Our climate is varied, parts being tempered by Lake Erie and parts at higher altitudes providing cool summers and snow cover for three major ski resort areas. Our average summer temperature is 77 degrees and our winters average 32 degrees.
Chautauqua Institution
Chautauqua is home to the world famed Chautauqua Institution and four other major resort and vacation regions, providing a wide variety of spring, summer, fall and winter activities. One can find boating, fishing, hiking, downhill skiing, X-country skiing, cycling, snowmobiling, Amish handicrafts, hunting, antiquing, concerts, and art shows to name a few!
Some say Chautauqua (shah tau' qua) is a Seneca Indian name meaning "Bag Tied in the Middle". A look at the map shows the name fits the lake. It is 17.3 miles long and boasts some of the best fishing opportunities in the country whether you're a novice or an avid angler. Bass, muskie, walleye, perch, and crappie are just some you will pull in.
Chautauqua Lake Real Estate
Here you will also find some of the most affordable housing in the country, as well as excellent schools and universities, museums, churches and a wholesome life style supported through agriculture, manufacturing, education and a cultural heritage.
For many of us who live in Chautauqua County, Chautauqua Lake is an important part of our lives in several different ways. It touches us politically, economically, and socially. It also touches us historically. One cannot tell the story of Chautauqua County and its people without talking about the lake, because the lake was determined, in large part, what that story is.
Chautauqua Lake was formed during the glacial period. Before that time, it is possible that the northern end of the lake, then only a river, drained into Lake Erie as the streams north of the dividing ridge still do today. Formation of the ridge, however, blocked the river's flow and elevated it high enough so that it joined with the southward flowing river and formed the 17-mile lake we know today.
Waters arising in Chautauqua County flow to both the Mississippi River and to the St. Lawrence.
Chautauqua Lake, lying southeast to northwest across the county at an elevation of 1,308 feet above sea level, is one of the highest navigable lakes in the nation.
Chautauqua Institute, a summertime center for study, inspiration, and relaxation, is a familiar landmark in American cultural history.
The French spelled the lake's Indian name several ways. Maps and reports by Jesuits and explorers who traveled through or near the region by the 1700s exhibit the individual versions: Tchadakoin, Tjadakoin, Chataconit, Shatacoin, Jadaxque, Jadaaqua. The Holland Land Company, on its 1804 maps, spelled it Chautaughque. The "gh" was soon dropped, but the final "que" remained until 1859 when it was changed to its present "qua".
The suggested meanings of this Seneca word are equally numerous: the place where one is lost; the place of easy death; fish taken out; foggy place; high up; two moccasins fastened together; and a bag tied in the middle. Several meanings refer to the lake's or the region's physical or climatic features; two refer to the lake's appearance; and two meanings come from Indian legends.
From above, the lake does resemble a long bag tied in the middle, and that is now the favored translation of Chautauqua. Whatever the correct meaning of its name, however, there is no disputing Chautauqua Lake's inextricable link to the people and the history of Chautauqua.
