Venice, Florida

The area that is now Venice was originally the home of Paleo-Indians, with evidence of their presence dating back to 8200 BCE.^[11] 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 stone tools were discovered in parts of Venice.^[12] 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 thus evidence of each can be found in the area.^[13]

The 1870s is when the area saw the first significant wave of white settlers.^[4] Venice was first known as "Horse and Chaise" because of a carriage-like tree formation that marked the spot for fishermen.^[4] During the 1870s, Robert Rickford Roberts established a homestead near a bay that bears his name today, Roberts Bay.^[14] 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 $86,000 in 2025^[15], 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.^[16] 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.^[4][17][18]

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.^[14] 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.^[19]

In 1926, a fire department was formed with thirty-two volunteers. In that same year, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers purchased a new American LaFrance fire engine from Moore Haven that had been damaged in the Great Miami Hurricane.^[20]

The first library was also founded in 1926 by the Venice-Nokomis Women's Club. This "library" was a few books on a shelf in a local store. The library had several temporary homes until 1965 when the Venice Area Public Library was built.^[21][22] This building remained in use until it was demolished in 2017 due to mold. A new library was constructed in 2018 called the William H. Jervey Jr. Venice Library, named after a benefactor of the new building.^[23]

On July 1, 1926, it was officially incorporated as the "Town of Venice", and on May 9, 1927, amended its Charter to change its name to the "City of Venice".

On October 9, 2024, Hurricane Milton made landfall just north of Venice, near Siesta Key, where Venice was near the ground zero of the hurricane's worst storm surge and high winds. Milton came less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene caused several feet of storm surge throughout the city of Venice.

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.^[10] The climate of Venice is humid subtropical, bordering very closely on a tropical savanna climate, thus featuring pronounced wet and dry seasons.

Venice Gondolier Sun is a newspaper published twice weekly; it has a circulation of 13,500.^[35][36]

WVEA-TV is licensed to Venice, is based in Tampa, and broadcasts from Riverview.

• Brian Aherne, English actor^[40]
• Dri Archer, American football player ^[41]
• Trey Burton, American football player ^[42]
• 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^[43]
• Walter Farley, author of The Black Stallion^[44]
• Dick Hyman, jazz musician ^[45]
• Forrest Lamp, professional football player
• Alvin Mitchell, American football player ^[46][47]
• Tom Tresh, professional baseball player
• Steve Trout, former major league baseball pitcher
• Early Wynn, professional baseball player

• 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.