Venice and South
Due to the number of towns and cities near and south of Venice, we will provide the locations of Osprey, Nokomis, Venice, Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, and Naples on this page.
Osprey Osprey is home to Historic Spanish Point, a 30-acre (12 ha) museum and environmental complex that includes a prehistoric shell mound, a turn-of-the-century pioneer homestead museum, a citrus packing house, chapel, boatyard, gardens and nature trails. Osprey is the mailing address for Oscar Scherer State Park and the new Scherer Thaxton Preserve, two of the few protected areas maintaining habitat for the threatened Florida scrub jay. Osprey is also the location of the Blackburn Point Bridge, a one-lane bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Things to see and do in Osprey
Nokomis In 1917, Alfred F. Wrede established the first post office with the name of “Nokomis” southwest of the original “Venice” post office. That same year, renowned orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Fred Albee, purchased 112 acres from the Sarasota-Venice Company. With Ellis W. Nash, Dr. Albee created the Nokomis Subdivision, by subdividing the property into 130 lots, with streets radiating from two inner avenue circles and the new asphalt highway, which eventually became U.S. 41. Right there on U.S. 41, Albee and investors built the Pollyanna Inn, a 35-room hotel. [
Things to see and do in Nokomis
Venice is a city in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The city includes what locals call “Venice Island”, a portion of the mainland that is accessed via bridges over the artificially created Intracoastal Waterway. The city is located south of Nokomis and north of Englewood. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,746.[7] It is noted for its large snowbird population and was voted as a top 10 Happiest Seaside Towns by Coastal Living.[8] Venice is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradentonmetropolitan statistical area
Things to see and do in Venice
Punta Gorda
The City of Punta Gorda was founded in 1884 when on the instructions of Isaac Trabue, surveyor Kelly Harvey began working on the subdivision of Trabue which was filed in Manatee County on February 24, 1885. With streets and blocks arranged along the southern shores of the Peace River at its mouth on Charlotte Harbor. Every waterfront block was designated as a park, a legacy that serves the City to this day with a string of public parks connected by Harborwalk, a 2.5 mile long public promenade. Incorporated on December 7, 1887 after the arrival of the railroad and the construction of the Hotel Punta Gorda, the little city thrived on winter seasonal visitors, agricultural trade, & commercial fishing.
Punta Gorda’s fortunes ebbed and flowed along with the national economy and the Florida Real Estate cycle of boom & bust through World War II when the Punta Gorda airfield was constructed to train aircrews. After the war in the late 1950’s another boom began with new subdivisions platted with canals connected to Charlotte Harbor in the Punta Gorda Isles and Burnt Store Isles neighborhoods. These new subdivisions drew retirees from the north attracted by winter sunshine, bountiful recreational fishing, and spectacular boating opportunities.
Things to see and do in Punta Gorda
Fort Myers
Nestled along the scenic shoreline of the Caloosahatchee River, the city has become an interesting blend of young and old.
Sporting the youngest population in Lee County, with a median age of 32, the City of Fort Myers is also home to the historic winter residences of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. Extensive renovation of the historic downtown waterfront is underway, with new restaurants, nightclubs, apartments, and artistic venues providing energy and growth.
Throughout the year, Southwest Florida residents and visitors enjoy cultural events overlooking the river at Centennial Park and the Fort Myers Yacht Basin.
Things to see and do in Fort Myers
Naples The city of Naples was founded during the late 1880s by former Confederate general and KentuckyU.S. SenatorJohn Stuart Williams and his partner, Louisville businessman Walter N. Haldeman, the publisher of the Louisville Courier-Journal. Throughout the 1870s and ’80s, magazine and newspaper stories telling of the area’s mild climate and abundant fish and game likened it to the sunny Italian peninsula. The name Naples caught on when promoters described the bay as “surpassing the bay in Naples, Italy”. Major development was anticipated after the railroad reaching Naples on January 7, 1927, and the Tamiami Trail linking Naples to Miami was completed in 1928, but did not begin until after the Great Depression and World War II. During the war the U.S. Army Air Forces built a small airfield and used it for training purposes; it is now the Naples Municipal Airport