Venice, Florida
City
Venice's Beachfront from Humphris Park
Seal
Nickname:  Shark Tooth Capital of the World[1]
Motto:  "City on the Gulf"[2]
Location in Sarasota County and the state of Florida
Coordinates: 27°6′N 82°26′W / 27.100°N 82.433°W / 27.100; -82.433
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Sarasota
Horse and Chaise	1800s
Venice	1888
Incorporated	May 9, 1927, by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
Named for	Venice, Italy
Area [3]
• City	17.78 sq mi (46.05 km2)
• Land	16.13 sq mi (41.77 km2)
• Water	1.65 sq mi (4.28 km2)
Elevation	10 ft (3 m)
Population  (2020)
• City	25,463
• Density	1,578.71/sq mi (609.54/km2)
• Metro	833,716 (US: 71st)
• Metro density	542.0/sq mi (209.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	34284-34287, 34290-34293
Area code	941
FIPS code	12-73900[4]
GNIS feature ID	0292749[5]
Website	venicegov.com

Venice is a city in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The city includes what locals call "Venice Island", a portion of the mainland that is accessed via bridges over the artificially created Intracoastal Waterway. The city is located in Southwest Florida.^[6] As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 25,463.^[7][8] Venice is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton metropolitan statistical area.

History

The area that is now Venice was originally the home of Paleo-Indians, with evidence of their presence dating back to 8200 BCE.^[9] As thousands of years passed, and the climate changed and some of the Pleistocene animals that the Indians hunted became extinct, the descendants of the Paleo-Indians found new ways to create stone and bone weapons to cope with their changing environment. These descendants became known as the Archaic peoples. Evidence of their camps along with their stone tools were discovered in parts of Venice.^[10] Over several millennia the culture and people who lived in the area changed. The peoples who the Spanish encountered when they arrived in 1500s were mound-builders. Venice lay in a boundary area between two cultures, the Tocobaga and the Calusa, and so you can find evidence of each in the area.^[11]

The 1800s is when the area saw the first wave of "European" settlers. Venice was first known as Horse and Chaise because of a carriage-like tree formation that marked the spot for fishermen. In the 1870s, Robert Rickford Roberts established a homestead near a bay that bears his name today, Roberts Bay.^[12] Francis H. "Frank" Higel, originally from France, arrived in Venice in 1883 with his wife and six sons. He purchased land in the Roberts' homestead for $2,500, equivalent to $79,000 in 2022^[13], to set up his own homestead. 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.^[14] Higel established a post office in 1885 with the name Eyry as a service for the community's thirty residents. In February he was appointed as postmaster but the office was shut down months later, in November 1885, with services moving back to Osprey. In 1888, another post office was established, this time with the name Venice, a name Higel himself suggested because of its likeness to the canal city in Italy.^[15][16]

During the Florida land boom of the 1920s, Fred H. Albee, an orthopedic surgeon renowned for his bone-grafting operations, bought 112 acres (45 ha) from Bertha Palmer to develop Venice.^[12] He hired John Nolen to plan the city and create a master plan for the streets. Albee sold the land to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and retained Nolen as city planner. The first portions of the city and infrastructure were constructed in 1925–1926.^[17]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.6 square miles (43.1 km²), of which 15.3 square miles (39.5 km²) is land and 1.4 square miles (3.5 km²), or 8.19%, is water.^[8] The climate of Venice is humid subtropical, bordering very closely on a tropical savanna climate, thus featuring pronounced wet and dry seasons.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 25,463 people, 12,521 households, and 6,810 families residing in the city.^[23]

In 2020, there was a population of 25,41.2% of the population were under 5 years old, 6.4% were under 18 years old, and 61.9% was 65 years and older. 3,204 veterans lived in the city and 9.5% of the population were foreign born persons. 54.6% of the population were female persons.

In 2020, the median household income was $61,953 with a per capita income of $60,284. 6.8% of the population lived below the poverty threshold. 90.9% of the households had a computer and 81.3% had a broadband internet subscription.

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 20,748 people, 11,143 households, and 5,926 families residing in the city.^[24]

Arts and culture

Annual cultural events

Venice Avenue

The Venice Jetty

A sample of shells from Venice beach

Venice has been listed in several publications as being the "Shark's Tooth Capital of the World".^[25] It hosts the Shark's Tooth Festival every year to celebrate the abundance of fossilized shark's teeth that can be found on its coastal shores.

Media

Venice's newspaper is the Venice Gondolier Sun. It is published twice each week and has a circulation of 13,500 copies.^[27][28]

Tampa Bay's Univision affiliate WVEA-TV is licensed to Venice, though it is based in Tampa and broadcasts from Riverview.

Infrastructure

Notable people

• Brian Aherne, English actor^[32]
• Dri Archer, American football player ^[33]
• Trey Burton, American football player ^[34]
• Hector A. Cafferata Jr., United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his heroic service at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War^[35]
• Walter Farley, author of The Black Stallion^[36]
• Dick Hyman, jazz musician ^[37]
• Forrest Lamp, professional football player
• Alvin Mitchell, American football player ^[38][39]
• Tom Tresh, professional baseball player
• Steve Trout, former major league baseball pitcher
• Early Wynn, professional baseball player

See also

• Huffman Aviation, a flight school at Venice Municipal Airport which was attended by several of the hijackers of the September 11 attacks
• Kentucky Military Institute, which wintered in Venice for many years
• Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, whose Clown College originally was located in Venice, and whose winter headquarters used to be in Venice
• Tervis Tumbler, a United States drinkware manufacturer with headquarters and production in Venice
• Epiphany Cathedral (Venice, Florida), is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Venice
• Venetian Waterway Park, is a 9.3-mile concrete trail located in Venice consisting of two parallel trails along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) connected by two bridges.

References

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Venice (Florida).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Venice, Florida.

Official website