Venice History
Dr. Fred Albee:
A Harvard-educated surgeon from New York, he traveled to Sarasota in February of 1917 and was hooked. An avid fisherman and investor, he purchased his first 112 acres from owner Bertha Potter Palmer. Mrs. Potter Palmer was a world-renowned Chicago socialite and businesswoman who singlehandedly helped transform much of Sarasota County. Her vast landholdings and political clout prompted the Seaboard Airline Railroad to extend their line from Sarasota to Venice, and the Federal Government to move the Post Office to the railway terminal.
During the real estate boom of the 1920s Dr. Albee had a vision to construct a model city on the Gulf, and bought 1468 more acres from Palmer in 1925. Albee envisioned agriculture, industry, commerce, housing and recreation harmoni- ously coexisting. He then hired John Nolen, Boston’s internationally known city planner to realize his dream.
John Nolen:
He was raised as an orphan but had been educated at Harvard, the Wharton School of Finance and Economy at the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Munich. While studying in Europe he had been inspired by the great cities of the Italian Renaissance such as Rome and Florence. With a paying client, Nolen saw a chance to design his model city on a clean slate with Venice, however, ideas for a Utopian society based on European principles was hindered by clients who, at that period in time, simply wanted to segregate the races.
The Great Depression:
The 1929 stock market crash and the subsequent Great Depression led to a dark time in Venice. As the Florida real estate bubble burst and economy crashed, The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers went into receivership, and most of the union’s officers were ousted. It took perseverance and several years for Venice – and the remainder of the country – to recover.
