1867 - John and Eliza Webb and children settled at Webb’s Point in Osprey, Florida

1868 - Reverend Jesse Knight, wife Caroline, and family arrived

1871 - Robert R. Roberts established residence on the south side of Roberts Bay

1881 - Frank Higel came to the area

1881 - John S. Blackburn settled in the area now called Nokomis

1888 - Venice Post Office established in area now known as Nokomis

1896 - First permanent school erected near the Jesse Knight Memorial Cemetery

1903 - Laurel Post Office began operations (closed 1909)

1903 - Rev. Jesse Knight deeded property for the first church, Knight’s Chapel (Methodist Episcopal)

1910 - Bertha Honoré Palmer acquired 140,000 acres (including most of current Venice) in what was then known as South Manatee County

1911 - Seaboard Airline Railway extended to current Venice

1912 - Waterway was dredged from Venice to Sarasota

1915 - Sarasota-Venice Company had a plat surveyed and filed for the town of Venice.

1915 - Voters passed a bond issue to construct a permanent road from Sarasota to Venice

1916 - Eagle Point Camp began operating

1917 - Dr. Fred and Louella Albee purchased land from Palmer family’s Sarasota-Venice Company

1918 - Manasota community founded

1921 - Sarasota County created from southern portion of Manatee County

1921 - Manasota renamed Woodmere by the Nocatee-Manatee Freight Company

1925 - John Nolen designed Venice city plan for Dr. Albee

1925 - Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers purchased land from the Albees

1925 - Venice Area Chamber of Commerce formed

1926 - Venice incorporated as a town

1926 - Governor John Martin appointed Venice's first mayor and council

1926 - John Nolen revised Venice city plan for Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers

1926 - Louella Albee formed Venice Nokomis Woman's Club

1927 - Town of Venice renamed City of Venice by Florida Legislature

1927 - Venice Train Depot completed; first airport constructed

1928 - Tamiami Trail opened from Tampa to Miami

1928 - Florida development boom ended

1930 - Venice-Nokomis High School's first graduating class had eight students

1930 - Fire destroyed Woodmere Sawmill and property was abandoned

1933 - Kentucky Military Institute moved its winter headquarters to Venice

1933 - Florida Medical Center opened in converted Park View Hotel

1937 - Venice Jetties constructed and channel between them dredged

1941 - War Department accepted Finn Caspersen’s offer of 3,000 acres for use as an Army camp

1942 - Venice Army Air Base began operations

1945 - Venice Army Air Base closed

1946 - First issue of the Venice Gondolier newspaper was printed

1947 - City of Venice takes over operation of airfields at former Venice Army Air Base

1950 - Venice Little Theatre performed first play

1952 - Development of South Venice began

1952 - Venice Hospital dedicated (closed 2022)

1953 - Venice Elementary School opened

1955 - Venice High School opened

1955 - Venice-Nokomis Presbyterian Drive-In Church featured in Life magazine

1960 - Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus relocated winter headquarters to Venice

1963 - Schools desegregated

1965 - Park View Hotel demolished

1964 - Venice Art League (now Venice Art Center) opened in East Blalock Park 

1966 - Venice Bypass (U.S. 41 Bypass) opened

1966 - Venice fishing pier opened with a 25-cent entrance fee

1967 - Dedication of completed West Coast Intracoastal Waterway

1970 - Kentucky Military Institute closed Venice operations

1970 - Grove Terrace, designed by Jack West, opened as Venice Housing Authority's first public housing project.

1971 - Seaboard Coastline Railroad ceased passenger train service to Venice

1971 - Gulf Theatre and Hotel Villa Nokomis demolished

1973 - Venice Theatre opened new facility in former KMI gymnasium 

1975 - Venice-Nokomis Bank demolished

1981 - The East Venice (now Jacaranda) and River Road interchanges opened on Interstate 75

1984 - Diocese of Venice formed 

1988 - Venice Main Street incorporated 

1991 - Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus final performance at Venice winter headquarters

1991 - Eagle Point annexed into city

1996 - Venice Archives and Area Historical Collection relocated to restored historic Triangle Inn

2000 - Venetian Waterway extended to Gulf of Mexico

2000 - City annexed 1100-acre Henry Ranch 

2001 - 9/11 terrorists trained at local flight school

2003 - Restoration of historic Venice Train depot completed

2004 - Venice Fishing Pier rebuilt

2004 - Three-year state widening of U.S. 41 Business, Hatchett Creek Bridge and Circus Bridge completed

2005 - First of five beach renourishments completed

2010 - Legacy Trail dedicated

2014 - Venice Performing Arts Center opened on the campus of Venice High School

2019 - Downtown Venice Beautification Project completed, reconstructing 14 blocks downtown

2019 - Venice Fishing Pier refurbished; deck and railing material replaced with longer-lasting ipe wood and pole lighting fixtures with sea turtle-friendly, under-handrail lights 

2019 - Julia Cousins Laning and Dale Laning Archives & Research Center opened

2020 - New Venice Police Department opened on Public Safety Facility campus on East Venice Ave.

2021 - New Public Works facility opened in the old Police Department building on Ridgewood Ave.

2021 - New Fire Station 1 opened next to City Hall campus

2022 - City Hall expansion completed

2022 - Hurricane Ian caused more than $10 million in damage in Venice

2024 - Hurricanes Helene and Milton flooded the Golden Beach neighborhood and destroyed the South Jetty

2025 - Opening of the Old Betsy Museum to house the city's original fire truck

2025 - Lavallee Municipal Campus dedicated