In February 1898, the Texas-Colorado Chautauqua Association and the City of Boulder entered into an agreement to locate the Chautauqua near Boulder, subject to the city providing sufficient area and suitable facilities.
A city bond election was held on April 5, 1898 and the necessary bonds and expenditures were approved to purchase the land and build the first buildings.

On April 18, 1898 the Boulder City Council appointed a "Committee on Parks," the earliest beginning of the city's Parks Department.
Later in April, the Bachelder Ranch site was selected and purchased for the Chautauqua; the grounds, one mile (1.6 km) south of the city, were named Texado Park.
On May 12, 1898 construction of the Chautauqua Auditorium commenced; the Dining Hall construction started one week later.
Both buildings were completed in time for the opening of the first Chautauqua season on July 4, 1898.

However, the two greatest disappointments of the initial season were first, that no residential cottages had yet been constructed; and second, that the electric streetcar line from downtown Boulder to Texado Park had not been built in time for the opening.
In the first season, Colorado Chautauqua attenders were housed entirely in tents.
They traveled the 1.5 miles (about 2 km) from the Boulder railway station to the Chautauqua on foot or in horsedrawn vehicles, via dirt roads that were alternately dusty and muddy.

The 1898 fee was $75 for the entire six-week season, including tuition, admission to all lectures and entertainments, all boarding and lodging, and round-trip rail fare to Boulder from any location within a 100-mile (200 km) radius of Fort Worth, Texas.

The first year's six-week program featured no fewer than 94 scheduled speeches, including addresses from the well-known evangelist T. Dewitt Talmadge, the Kentucky orator Henry Watterson, the governors of Colorado and Texas, the mayor of Boulder, and the president of the University of Colorado.
Various clergymen also delivered sermons each Sunday.

The Kansas City Symphony Orchestra was in residence for the entire season, and would return many times in future years.
They played a sacred concert each Sunday, and incidental music as requested, often several times a day.
Various bands, pianists, and vocalists also performed.

Music classes were offered including cello, guitar, mandolin, piano, singing and chorus.
The Collegiate Department of the Chautauqua offered 51 different classes in mathematics, chemistry, botany, physics, psychology, education, as well as English, Latin, Greek, French, and German language and literature.

From that first season, the Colorado Chautauqua also presented motion pictures in the Auditorium.
The evening program for July 21, 1898, was "Edison's Genuine Projectoscope, Colorscopic Diorama and Wargraph, with Music, reproducing scenes of the war with Spain."

Other activities included burro and horseback rides, hikes to the nearby Flatirons on Green Mountain, stagecoach rides to Boulder Falls and Eldorado Springs, and mountain railway excursions to destinations as far away as Ward.

The activities of the 1898 Chautauqua season were to continue and expand from that date to the 1920s, except for the Collegiate Department, which was largely supplanted by the summer session of the University of Colorado beginning in 1904.
In February 1898, the Texas-Colorado Chautauqua Association and the City of Boulder entered into an agreement to locate the Chautauqua near Boulder, subject to the city providing sufficient area and suitable facilities. A city bond election was held on April 5, 1898 and the necessary bonds and expenditures were approved to purchase the land and build the first buildings.
On April 18, 1898 the Boulder City Council appointed a "Committee on Parks," the earliest beginning of the city's Parks Department. Later in April, the Bachelder Ranch site was selected and purchased for the Chautauqua; the grounds, one mile (1.6 km) south of the city, were named Texado Park. On May 12, 1898 construction of the Chautauqua Auditorium commenced; the Dining Hall construction started one week later. Both buildings were completed in time for the opening of the first Chautauqua season on July 4, 1898.
However, the two greatest disappointments of the initial season were first, that no residential cottages had yet been constructed; and second, that the electric streetcar line from downtown Boulder to Texado Park had not been built in time for the opening. In the first season, Colorado Chautauqua attenders were housed entirely in tents. They traveled the 1.5 miles (about 2 km) from the Boulder railway station to the Chautauqua on foot or in horsedrawn vehicles, via dirt roads that were alternately dusty and muddy.
The 1898 fee was $75 for the entire six-week season, including tuition, admission to all lectures and entertainments, all boarding and lodging, and round-trip rail fare to Boulder from any location within a 100-mile (200 km) radius of Fort Worth, Texas.
The first year's six-week program featured no fewer than 94 scheduled speeches, including addresses from the well-known evangelist T. Dewitt Talmadge, the Kentucky orator Henry Watterson, the governors of Colorado and Texas, the mayor of Boulder, and the president of the University of Colorado. Various clergymen also delivered sermons each Sunday.
The Kansas City Symphony Orchestra was in residence for the entire season, and would return many times in future years. They played a sacred concert each Sunday, and incidental music as requested, often several times a day. Various bands, pianists, and vocalists also performed.
Music classes were offered including cello, guitar, mandolin, piano, singing and chorus. The Collegiate Department of the Chautauqua offered 51 different classes in mathematics, chemistry, botany, physics, psychology, education, as well as English, Latin, Greek, French, and German language and literature.
From that first season, the Colorado Chautauqua also presented motion pictures in the Auditorium. The evening program for July 21, 1898, was "Edison's Genuine Projectoscope, Colorscopic Diorama and Wargraph, with Music, reproducing scenes of the war with Spain."
Other activities included burro and horseback rides, hikes to the nearby Flatirons on Green Mountain, stagecoach rides to Boulder Falls and Eldorado Springs, and mountain railway excursions to destinations as far away as Ward.
The activities of the 1898 Chautauqua season were to continue and expand from that date to the 1920s, except for the Collegiate Department, which was largely supplanted by the summer session of the University of Colorado beginning in 1904.
Colorado Chautauqua