238 W. Tampa Avenue: Originally San Marco Hotelfiles.constantcontact.com/7aba901a001/26b07d69-7dd6-4d4a-a046-e...238 W. Tampa Avenue: Originally San Marco Hotel This three-story, steel-reinforced,

238 W. Tampa Avenue: Originally San Marco Hotel

This three-story, steel-reinforced, concrete block, stuccoed building was commissioned by the Brotherhood of

Locomotive Engineers (BLE) as a 92 room hotel with 13 shops on the ground floor. It was completed in the fall

of 1926 after only 90 days of construction at an estimated cost of $300,000.

The concrete block and original red tile for the roof were produced locally by the Venice Tile Company located

in the city’s industrial section east of the railroad tracks. In 1932 the empty hotel was leased by the Kentucky

Military Institute (KMI) for use as its winter headquarters. The first floor was used for classrooms and the up

floors for cadet living quarters. Every other weekend on the parade grounds south of this building between

Tampa and Venice Avenues (now a municipal parking lot), spectacular parades were presented by the cadets in

full dress uniform. These parades attracted visitors from many nearby communities.

In the 1970s after the close of KMI’s winter quarters in Venice, the building was renovated and converted to

condominium ownership with residential units on the upper floors and retail units on the first floor.

On November 8, 2010, this structure was listed in National Register of Historic Places as a contributing

structure in the John Nolen Plan of Venice, Florida Historic District.

Historical documentation provided by: Venice Heritage Inc.

Photographs provided by: Venice Museum & Archives

247 W. Venice Avenue

Originally intended to house a drug store, barber shop, haberdashery, and tea room, this was the

second commercial building constructed in Venice. The front of the building was described as

“decidedly a Venetian design” by a local representative of Walker and Gillette, H. S. Patterson.

The building was designed by architect W. H. Schumaker of Tampa and constructed by the Barrett

Construction Company of Tampa. According to an article in the July 10, 1926 edition of This Week In

Venice, it was scheduled to be completed in 60 days. In the same article, owner G. E. Sanders stated

that he wished to be the “first merchant of Venice.” By February 1927, advertisements in the Venice

News indicated that the building was the home of the Rendezvous Tea Shop.



200 N. Nassau

The Hotel Venice was the first building constructed by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE)

in Venice in 1926. This 3-story, wood-frame building, designed in the Italian Renaissance style had 100

luxurious rooms. In 1984 it was restored and now serves as a retirement community.



225-231 W. Venice Avenue: Ennes Arcade

This building was completed in January 1927 for an estimated cost of $125,000. It was owned by Stanton

Ennes, the general manager of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) Realty Corporation.

It was constructed of stucco-covered clay hollow tile and brick by the George E. Fuller Construction Company.

Rather than the usual red clay barrel tile roof, this building had a green, concrete, shallow s-tile roof

manufactured by the Venice Tile Company located in the Industrial Section of the city east of the railroad

tracks.

The building was designed as two two-story wings connected on the first floor by a roofed, open-ended, sky-

lighted roof that formed an arcade. The second floor originally housed the Hotel Valencia. An uncovered

walkway encircled both wings providing access to each hotel room. The hotel lobby was on the first floor

facing the arcade. As was typical of the 1920s, the hotel rooms were small and the adjoining east and west

facing rooms in each wing shared a bath (toilet and shower) with a sink in each room.

Seven stores, besides the hotel lobby and the post office, were located on the first floor with some opening

directly onto the arcade. By July 1927, a newsstand and an office of Florida Power and Light Company (FPL)

were also located in the building. The ventilated box-like structures on the roof were part of the original solar

water heating system.

The first-floor arcade has been closed and a roof now covers the area between the second-floor wings creating a

common area for the residents who occupy the original hotel rooms.



303 E Venice Ave

The Venice Railroad Depot was constructed by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) in 1927 for

$47,500. The 50-foot by 400-foot station was built in the Mediterranean architectural style of heavy timbers and

hollow clay blocks with a stucco finish. The structure has two waiting rooms (colored and white), ticket office,

baggage room, elevated freight room, and exterior covered passenger platforms. The structure was acquired by

Sarasota County and restored to its 1927 appearance for $2.3M with Federal, State, and local funds. In 2003,

upon completion of its restoration, the structure was officially dedicated and serves as a bus transfer station for

Sarasota County Area Transit system.

The structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Place on August 17, 1989.



South Nassau Street: Sawyer Building

During the second half of 1926, Harold W. Sawyer had this two-sided building constructed for an estimated

cost of $20,000 to house his grocery and meat market. Besides the two storefronts on the first floor, there were

eight offices on the second floor.

The Woodroffe Investment Company and the Building Firm of Clark and Stevens occupied two of the second-

floor offices. In 1934, the building was purchased by the First Baptist Church.




This was one of several buildings owned by Mr. Estes in Venice. Construction of this building was started in

September 1926. By 1927, it was the home of Venice Stationary Company, Meare’s Men’s Shop, and the

construction firm of Latimer and Lee.

During the 1940s, it was the home of the Venice Gondolier, and a radio and TV store. Since TVs were not

common during this time period, the store owner had a “public” TV in the window. A bench on the sidewalk

facing the store window allowed those without a TV at home to relax and view programs during the evening

hours. By the 1960s, radio station WAMR had a studio on the second floor.




This two-story building was owned by Wm. E. Mohler and originally housed the Woolard Furniture Company

and the J. T. Hardware Company. As was common during the 1920s, there were rental apartments on the second

floor.

Social notes in the Venice News chronicled the arrival of winter residents from as far away as Ontario, Canada

to rent these apartments. The second-floor façade clearly shows the raised stucco relief that defined the

“Northern Italian” architectural theme for the city. Later this building housed the Venice Electric Supply

Company and the Venice Tile Company.

http://veniceheritage.org/

351 South Nassau Street – Triangle Inn

This building was constructed in 1927 as a rooming house or inn. It was specifically designed to house a

business. It was not designed as a single family house. It was built by Mrs. Augusta Miner who moved to

Venice from Chicago where she ran a tea room. There is no record of the architect who designed the building,

just the contractor who built it. Like many others, Mrs. Miner sought new opportunities in the wildly

speculative Florida real estate market of the 1920s. She borrowed money to build the Triangle Inn and paid off

the loan, unlike many others who defaulted on loans and left

the City.

According to family members, she also purchased acreage in Fort Ogden and raised citrus. She lived in the

Triangle Inn and ran the business until 1934. In October of that year, the recently reestablished Venice Fire

Department was called to the Triangle Inn to extinguish a fire caused by an oil stove. According to the fire

report, Mrs. Minor was fatally burned before the eight volunteers and the assistant fire chief arrived. There was

no damage to the building.

The Triangle Inn was home to piano teachers, secretaries, prospective land buyers, tarpon fisherman, and

visitors escaping the cold of the north. During World War II, it was home to civilian employees of the Venice

Army Air Base and married military personnel. After the war, it was a private home and during the 1950s it was

converted to six apartments. It was a five-unit apartment building when it was acquired by the City of Venice in

1991. The City built a new foundation, moved the building, restored the exterior to its 1920s appearance, and

renovated the interior to house the City of Venice Museum & Archives.



Documents

238 W. Tampa Avenue: Originally San Marco Hotelfiles.constantcontact.com/7aba901a001/26b07d69-7dd6-4d4a-a046-e...238 W. Tampa Avenue: Originally San Marco Hotel This three-story, steel-reinforced,