The amphitheater became the center of activity and remains so today, after its construction in 1893. Speakers and performing artists from every field came to Chautauqua. Organized sports became part of the summer season's activities for the residents as the years passed, making a well-rounded program available. Such development would surely have pleased Vincent and Miller.
Other communities sprang up around the lake at choice spots. Large hotels were built to accommodate the hordes of people who flocked to western New York's mecca every summer. For the wealthy of every major city in the northeast, a summer at Chautauqua Lake became the epitome of the good life. In Lakewood, the Kent House and the Sterlingworth (later renamed the Waldemere) catered to an elite clientele. Lakewood remained largely a summer colony until 1916. Point Chautauqua started as a Baptist meeting ground, and in 1878 the deluxe Grand Hotel, one of the largest on the lake, opened there. The resort was designed by the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who also planned New York's Central Park. Smaller hotels and cottages sprang up around the Grand Hotel to serve vacationers who appreciated the proximity to Chautauqua but did not appreciate the Institute's prohibition of liquor.
Thomas Bemus settled at The Narrows in 1806. Five years later he received a license to operate a ferry across the lake from Bemus Point to Stow. More hotels soon opened on Bemus Point, and one, the Lenhart, is still in operation. In September 1893, the Broadhead family purchased a piece of swampland in Celoron, at the southernmost end of the lake. Their intention was to fill in the swamp and create an amusement park. The multitude of visitors assured the venture's profitability, and, by this time, in addition to the steamboat fleet which carried tourists around the lake, electric trolley rails were being extended along the shore. The Broadheads opened Celoron Park, which was soon known as the Coney Island of Western New York.
A fountain, lit by colored lights, stood in the center of the park, flanked by benches and an open air band shell where the Celoron Gold Bank and others played Sousa marches and other audience favorites.
Indoor entertainment was available in the large theater built over the water where high-class vaudeville acts, theater companies, and light opera companies, music companies played to standing-room-only audiences. In 1924, the ornate theater was converted to a dance hall, the first of the two Pier Ballrooms.
The structure burned in June 1930, but was immediately rebuilt and gained a national reputation during the big band era when crowds from all over came to see such artists as Rudy Vallee, Cab Calloway, Stan Kenton, the Dorsey Brothers, Guy Lombardo, and Vincent Lopez.
The auditorium with its two Moorish towers served as a convention hall in the summer and as an ice-skating rink in the winter, attracting hundreds of skaters every winter. In 1896, an estimated 8,000 persons thronged the auditorium and the park to hear the "Silver-Tongued Orator," William Jennings Bryan, deliver a Presidential campaign speech in his unique and well-known style.
Outdoor movies became a popular attraction in the 1920s. The small projection booth was in the center of the park, and the projectionist got a round of applause from the audience when he climbed into it.
The Celoron Park season opened on Memorial Day, and, if the weather was good, several thousand persons enjoyed the first picnic and rides of the summer. The 4th of July always featured special acts and fireworks, and some years drew record-breaking crowds of 20,000 to 25,000 persons.