The park was formed from two gifts of former estates on Chautauqua Lake. The first estate was donated to New York State in 1956 by Mr. and Mrs. John W. Minturn; Mrs. Minturn was the granddaughter of former state governor Reuben E. Fenton. The park was expanded several years later with the gift of the summer estate of Bainbridge Colby, former United States Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson.[3]