Venice Depot - Venice, FL - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

There is a historical marker placed by the Sarasota County Historical Commission on the property to explain the historical significance of the train depot to visitors.
This Mediterranean Revival style depot was constructed in 1927 after the tracks were moved into Venice to serve its industrial section. The depot served for primary transportation for the Kentucky Military Institute in the 1930's, the U.S. Army during World War II, and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus after its move to Venice in 1960.

The depot met its demise in the 1970's when Amtrack assumed all passenger travel. After an extended negotiation, Sarasota County acquired the depot and began renovating it. The renovated depot was dedicated by Sarasota County officials on October 24, 2003. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers [BLE] executive committee returned to Venice in March 2004 to rededicate the train depot, which the company had originally built and dedicated in March 1927.

Today, the train depot is operated by Sarasota County Parks and Recreation Department, and it is a transfer station for the Sarasota County Area Transit [SCAT] bus system. The Venice Area Historical Society created a Depot Docent program in November 2003 and currently gives tours of the Historic Train Depot every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 AM to 3 PM, November to May. Visitors can stop by anytime to stroll the exterior grounds of the depot, or call (941)412-0151 for guided group tour reservations.

The records for the National Register of Historical Places is not up-to-date so fields pertaining to current use information have been updated based on information obtained from GulfCoastLivingOnline.com (visit link) and the Venice Area Historical Society (visit link)

Street address: 303 E. Venice Ave. Venice, FL USA 34285 County / Borough / Parish: Sarasota Year listed: 1989 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture, Social History Periods of significance: 1925-1949 Historic function: Transportation; Rail-Related Current function: Museum; Transportation, Bus-Related Hours of operation: From: 10:00 AM To: 3:00 PM Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Privately owned?: Not Listed Season start / Season finish: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/31/2024 Firefighter Skippy visited it 01/31/2020 Saxo-fun visited it 02/16/2016 stevepre2 visited it 03/03/2012 NFJK visited it 12/25/2010 Skyecat visited it 05/23/2009 crackergals visited it 01/19/2009 KyWildturkey visited it

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