[1] Also known as the New Piasa Chautauqua Historic District which is a private semi-gated summer resort that started as a 19th-century tent settlement.

[citation needed] Founded in 1885 by Methodist leaders, Piasa Chautauqua attracted thousands of people from the St. Louis area and other places in Illinois.

Arriving first by packet boat, and later by automobile or the trains that ran by as often as six times a day, the vacationers were entertained, educated, and inspired by guests including William Jennings Bryan, evangelists Sam Jones, Billy Sunday and Gypsy Smith, the Swiss Bell Ringers, John Philip Sousa’s band and "Sunny Jim," reputed to be one of the Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders.

[citation needed] The physical situation of the settlement added to its appeal as the hottest summer days had cool valley breezes and some evenings might require a jacket.

[citation needed] A 1912 brochure described the area: In an Illinois tourists' guide in 1932, the author celebrates the region's "grandeur... [surpassing] that of the Palisades on the Hudson.