Pennsylvania Chautauqua

Where Nature, Culture, and Community Thrive

Yellow building with black trim and metal roof, surrounded by trees and bushes, with a sculpture in the foreground.
A person giving a presentation to a seated audience in a wood-paneled room with a large screen displaying a slide.
Exterior of Jock's Jock Shop restaurant with yellow siding, stairs, flowers, and an American flag.
Crowd of people walking through an outdoor market with white tents and booths.
A yellow building with white columns and a porch, surrounded by tall trees in a forest setting. An American flag hangs on the front of the building.
A two-story house with a front porch, surrounded by greenery and trees, with a wooden sculpture of a face in the garden.
Green fern plants covering a fallen tree trunk in a forest.

About Pennsylvania Chautauqua

Pennsylvania Chautauqua is part of a national movement that began in 1874 on Lake Chautauqua, New York.

It quickly grew into a vibrant model of community life, bringing together education, religion, the arts, recreation, and public discourse in summer assemblies across the country.

At its peak, more than 200 Chautauqua communities flourished nationwide. Today, fewer than twenty remain.

Pennsylvania Chautauqua is proud to be one of them—continuing this historic tradition within the borough of Mount Gretna, where culture, nature, and community come together.

Visitors experience a place where learning, creativity, and connection are part of everyday life.

Learn more about the broader Chautauqua movement through the Chautauqua Trail at www.chautauquatrail.com

Learn More About Our History

The Mount Gretna Area Historical Society preserves and interprets the rich history of both the Pennsylvania Chautauqua and the broader Mount Gretna community.

Through archival materials, historic photographs, exhibits, and educational programs, the Society helps tell the story of how Mount Gretna and the Chautauqua movement evolved together while remaining distinct institutions.

Explore their collections and learn more at:


➡️ Mount Gretna Area Historical Society