Brief History and Timeline Highlights of Venice, Florida
PALEO TIMES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
The area that is now Venice was originally the home of Indigenous People referred to as "Paleo-Indians", with evidence of their presence dating back to 8200 BCE. As thousands of years passed, the climate and coastlines changed. Many fossils of ancient animals have been found in the county. Eventually, the Pleistocene animals that were hunted by these early inhabitants of the peninsula became extinct. Descendants of the Paleo-Indians found new food sources and ways to create shell, stone, and bone weapons to cope with their changing environment, and became known as Archaic Peoples. Evidence of their camps were discovered in parts of Venice, and in Osprey (today's Historic Spanish Point). Over several millennia the cultures and people who lived in the area changed. The Native People of the Sarasota Bay region who lived here at the time Spanish arrived in the state in 1500s, were a mound-building society called Manasota Culture. Venice lay in a boundary area between two other cultures, the Tocobaga (Tampa Bay) and the Calusa (Charlotte Harbor and south to the Everglades), and thus evidence of each can also be found in the greater Sarasota County and Venice area.
EARLY PIONEERS
In the 1870s, Richard Roberts established a homestead near Roberts Bay and the beach. He planted an orange grove and a few other crops. In 1884, he sold a portion of his holdings to Frank Higel. Higel established a citrus operation involving the production of several lines of canned citrus items, such as jams, pickled orange peel, lemon juice and orange wine. For the next 30 years, the Higel family members were boat builders, fishermen, grove caretakers and contractors. The first postmaster was Darwin Curry. The Curry and Higel families chose the name Venice for their community post office, located south of Shakett Creek on what is now Portia Street in Nokomis.
THE RAILROAD
In 1911, the railroad was completed to Venice, making way for the development of the area. Bertha Honore Palmer (Mrs. Potter Palmer), a Chicago businesswoman, purchased 60,000 acres. The Sarasota-Venice Company, Palmer’s land development operation, platted a small area south of Robert’s Bay as the town of Venice and offered lots for sale. The rail lines were extended to the newly platted area and the new stop was called Venice Train Station. Later, the Venice Post Office was moved for the convenience of being closer to the Venice Train Station, creating the need for a new post office to be established near the former location and named Nokomis Post Office.
The settlement of Venice occurred slowly and Venice remained a small fishing resort and farming community through the first part of the 1920s. During the 1920s, Florida land speculation was very intense. Stories of fast fortunes and quick land sales encouraged many owners to develop their land to profit from the boom.
A NAME AND A PLAN
In 1925, Dr. Fred H. Albee, a well-known orthopedic surgeon, purchased 2,916 acres of land from the Venice-Sarasota Company. Earlier, he developed Nokomis and built its first luxury hotel, the Pollyanna Inn. Albee retained John Nolen, a world-renowned city planner, to design a city on his land. This city would be called Venice. Albee did not have a chance to implement his plan before he was approached with a proposal from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers to purchase his land on Oct. 6, 1925. This purchase was motivated by a desire by the BLE to increase the union’s assets and holdings.
The BLE Realty Corporation was organized to develop the area and the Venice Company created to market the property. A city was to be built on land along the Gulf of Mexico. Five-acre plots farther inland were planned for agriculture. The company retained Nolen to complete a plan for a city on the gulf in 1926. This plan differed somewhat from the plan he had completed for Albee. The BLE Realty Company selected George A. Fuller as the contractor; the New York architectural firm of Walker and Gillette, as supervising architects; and Prentiss French as landscape architect.
A CITY IS BORN
On June 10, 1926, the first street in Venice opened. Nassau Street ran from the terminus of Tamiami Trail, past the Hotel Venice, through Venezia Park, and again into the Trail. By mid-June, the first phase was complete with 6 miles of graded streets and a mile of 7-foot-wide sidewalks and gutters. Venice Avenue was paved. Crews worked around the clock to build a road east of town to the area where small acreage farms were for sale. The key feature of the Venice plan designated Venice Avenue as a 200-foot boulevard with a 100-foot parkway in the center terminating in a plaza on the beach. It was the gateway to Venice Beach.
TOURISTS AND RESIDENTS
Hotel Venice (now known as Park Place on Nassau Street) opened on June 21, 1926. It was described as a structure with “large windows, ventilating doors and ceiling fans.” The hotel reportedly had its own ice machines, laundry, bake shop and barber. There were 100 rooms with private baths and a fire sprinkler system. The large dining room had a beamed cypress ceiling, terrazzo floors, and a diagonally checked wall in antique Verde and white. The lobby had a cypress beamed and plaster ceiling. In October 1926, plans to build the Hotel San Marco (now known as Venice Centre Mall on Tampa Avenue) were announced. The three-story, 92-room hotel, designed by noted Tampa architect, Franklin O. Adams, had concrete block walls and steel columns with a stucco exterior.
Residential construction started in July 1926, with the construction of three large residences in the Gulf View section (subdivision). These large houses, located on Venice Avenue, were the most expensive to be built in the town. At the same time, it was announced five moderately priced homes would be built in the Edgewood section (subdivision). They were designed by M.M. Gleichman of Tampa. A few days later, the BLE announced 30 homes would be constructed in Edgewood with a combined value of $135,000.
UNIQUE ARCHITECTURE IN VENICE, FLORIDA
The New York architectural firm of Walker and Gillette supervised and approved all design work prior to construction. Design review requirements set forth in all deeds were creating a community with character. Buildings had to be constructed in the Northern Italian Renaissance architectural style. The Venice standards included the use of sloping roofs with colored tile and smooth stucco. Awning colors were regulated. In many cases, they were the only color on the houses, which were generally painted white or light tones. Window and door placements were also regulated. The setting of the building was also reviewed including setback, orientation and relationship to neighboring buildings.
CITY GOVERNMENT
In December 1926, Venice held its first town council meeting and formed the police and fire departments. Gov. John Martin appointed Edward L. Worthington as the first mayor of Venice. In January 1927, the Edgewood property owners petitioned to be annexed into the town’s corporate limits. On May 9, 1927, the state legislature changed the designation of Venice from “town” to “city” by amending the enabling legislation and the Venice Charter.
As the 1920s decade came to a close, so did the Florida land boom. In the early 1930s, the situation was bleak. City employees went unpaid and the electric street lights were turned off because the bills could not be paid. Eventually the BLE real estate operations went into receivership and BLE holdings were liquidated through Miakka Estates Inc. Most of the unsold land eventually reverted to Albee and other creditors.
KMI IN VENICE
In 1932, the Kentucky Military Institute of Lyndon, Kentucky, rented the Hotel Venice and the Hotel San Marco as a winter school for its cadets. It purchased the property on Dec. 15, 1939. For the next nearly 40 years, cadets, teachers and some parents would arrive by rail shortly after New Year’s Day and stay in Venice until Easter. In 1971, with the Vietnam war a heated controversy around the nation, the military school closed its doors.
MID 20TH CENTURY GROWTH
Post-WWII boom: The city experienced another growth spurt after World War II, partly due to returning soldiers and the development of numerous small homes. Population grew from 863 in 1950 to nearly 10,000 in 1957.
Ringling Bros. Circus: The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus moved its winter headquarters to Venice in 1960, creating a popular tourist attraction at its Clown College. Famous performers like animal trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams helped draw tourists to the area for the preview shows the circus performed before heading out on tour. When the circus arrived in Venice by train, the animals and performers would parade down the city’s streets to their winter quarters.
Intracoastal Waterway: The completion of the Intracoastal Waterway in the 1960s solidified Venice's reputation as a boating and tourist destination.