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Our home town, Venice was originally the home of the Calusas, a tribe of native Americans who lived here some 12,000 years ago. There is little recorded history between then and the occupation of Florida by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. Most of Florida remained a wilderness until 1,800's when the government offered free land to anyone who would homestead it and put up with the mosquitoes, the snakes, the hurricanes and what we are famous for, the alligators. But wave after wave of settlers moved in believing the northern newspaper accounts of the beauty and the richness of the state. Originally called Horse and Chaise because of a carriage like tree formation that marked a favorite spot for fisherman, the city was renamed Venice, in 1888 by a prominent settler Frank Higel, (Father of Venice) because of its likeness to the canal city in Italy where he spent his childhood. In the early 1900's, Bertha Honore Palmer, (Palmer Ranch, Honore Avenue) a wealthy widow from Chicago, spent part of her fortune to acquire 140,000 acres of Florida wilderness, half of which was in the Venice area. Her cattle ranch was one of the biggest in the state and her home on the bay was complete with marble pillars lining walkways through formal gardens. Around 1916, captivated by the natural beauty and the sub-tropical climate of the area, Dr. Fred Albee (Albee farm Road), a New York physician, purchased the entire village of Nokomis on Dona and Roberts Bay after just an eight-day visit. He settled in Venice area with the dream of building a model city, and commissioned John Nolen, a well-known Boston city planner to create a gulf coast paradise. By 1923, now prospering village of Venice was connected to Tampa and Miami by a two-lane road that became the Tamiami Trail. (Tampa - Miami). During the real estate boom of the 1920s, the designs for the City of Venice and the land were sold to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers of Cleveland, Ohio and became a retirement haven for members of the engineers' union. The City of Venice was incorporated in 1927 and the dream of a model community became a reality when homes & businesses featuring Italian architecture were constructed. Economic boosts occurred in 1932 when the Kentucky Military Institute moved into the San Marco Hotel and Orange Blossom Garage buildings and again in 1941 when the Army opened a training base at the municipal airport. Population grew from 863 in 1950 to nearly 10,000 in 1957. Following the arrival of the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus, which made Venice its winter headquarters in 1960, the Venice area's population took another leap to 27,000 in 1962. The Intracoastal Waterway was constructed in the 1960's, making Venice an "island" and increased pleasure boating in the area. One of the few carefully planned cities in the United States, Venice is artistically landscaped with palms, flowers, silver trumpet trees, live oaks and pines. It is now a Florida Main Street City, a designation awarded by the State of Florida for Historic Preservation. From a small fishing village to a destination for vacationers, a haven for retirees and young families alike, Venice has evolved into a thriving town.
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