Editing Venice, Florida (section)

==History==
The area that is now Venice was originally the home of [[Paleo-Indians]], with evidence of their presence dating back to 8200 BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Milanich |first1=Jerald T. |title=Indians of North Central Florida |journal=Florida Anthropologist |date=February 1976 |volume=31 |pages=131–140}}</ref> 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 period (North America)|Archaic peoples]]. Evidence of their camps along with stone tools were discovered in parts of Venice.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Almy |first1=Marion M. |title="An Archaeological Survey of Selected Portion of the City of Venice" |date=September 1985 |publisher=unpublished manuscript prepared for Venice Historical Survey Committee |location=City of Venice |page=7}}</ref> 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|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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mathews |first1=Janet Snyder |title=Venice: Journey from Horse and Chaise |date=2017 |publisher=Sesquicentennial Productions Inc. |isbn=978-0-9621986-0-1 |pages=10–11 |edition=2nd}}</ref>

The 1870s is when the area saw the first significant wave of white settlers.<ref name=VInc/> Venice was first known as "Horse and Chaise" because of a carriage-like tree formation that marked the spot for fishermen.<ref name=VInc/> During the 1870s, Robert Rickford Roberts established a homestead near a bay that bears his name today, Roberts Bay.<ref name="SHT">{{cite web |first1=Chris |last1=Angermann |accessdate=February 15, 2021 |title=In Venice, an island of history and charm |url=https://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130216/News/605193646 |website=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]] |date=February 16, 2013}}</ref> 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, {{Inflation|US|2500|1883|fmt=eq|r=-3}}{{Inflation/fn|US}}, 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.<ref name="VeniceFL">{{cite web |accessdate=February 6, 2021 |title=Early History |url=https://www.venicegov.com/government/historical-resources/early-history |website=Venice, Florida}}</ref> 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, Florida|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 [[Venice|canal city in Italy]].<ref name=VInc/><ref name="SHA">{{cite web |accessdate=February 6, 2021 |title=Frank Higel was Entrepreneur and Pioneer |url=http://www.sarasotahistoryalive.com/history/articles/frank-higel-was-entrepreneur-and-pioneer/ |website=Sarasota History Alive!}}</ref><ref>Deming, J., Schwarz, R., Carender, P., Delanaye, D., & Williams, J. Sarasota County Department of Historical Resources. (1990). An Historic Resources Survey of the Coastal Zone of Sarasota County, Florida. Department of Environmental Regulation. Retrieved from https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CZIC-g70-215-c63-f6-1990/html/CZIC-g70-215-c63-f6-1990.htm</ref>

During the [[Florida land boom of the 1920s]], [[Fred H. Albee]], an orthopedic surgeon renowned for his bone-grafting operations, bought {{convert|112|acres}} from [[Bertha Palmer]] to develop Venice.<ref name="SHT"/> 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.<ref>{{cite web |accessdate=February 6, 2021 |title=The History of Venice, Fl: Preserving the Past |url=https://www.visitsarasota.com/article/history-venice-fl-preserving-past |website=Visit Sarasota}}</ref>

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, Florida|Moore Haven]] that had been damaged in the [[1926 Miami hurricane|Great Miami Hurricane]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mersereau |first1=Jack |title=Venice Fire Department: 1926-2011 85 Years of Service |date=2014 |publisher=Venice Heritage |isbn=9780983700210 |page=1}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ad-vantages |title=An addition to the Venice Area Public Library |date=1979 |publisher=Sun Coast Times, Inc. |location=Venice, FL}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Sarasota County Library System |journal=Florida Library History Project |date=1998 |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1054&context=fl_library_history |access-date=3 April 2024}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dean |first1=Vicki |title=Library benefactor reflects on philanthropy, investing in Venice |url=https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/venice/2018/12/14/venice-library-benefactor-william-jervey-reflects-on-philanthropy/6639894007/ |access-date=3 April 2024 |work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |publisher=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |date=14 December 2018}}</ref>

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 hurricanes 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.