The term "Chautauqua" became associated with the Chautauqua Movement, which grew from Chautauqua Institution in the county. The institution began in 1874 as a training camp for Methodist Bible School teachers and later developed into an educational and cultural center that attracts more than 150,000 visitors during its annual nine-week summer season. The movement spread across the country, and hundreds of traveling or tent Chautauquas offered educational opportunities to the public, with many still existing. Variations of the word "Chautauqua" appeared on French maps from early explorations of the area. Although legends about the word's meaning are unsubstantiated, the interpretation most often heard comes from the Seneca language: "Bag ties in the middle," referring to the elongated shape of Chautauqua Lake and its narrow point near the middle at Bemus Point-Stow.