Circus Bridge Tower, Venice, FL, Painterly, BW
by Liesl Walsh
Title
Circus Bridge Tower, Venice, FL, Painterly, BW
Artist
Liesl Walsh
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photograph
Description
My husband Michael Walsh took this photo, and I edited it, then he created a painting from it. This photo captures some important things about of the history of Venice, Florida: the airport, the Ringling Circus, the Circus Bridge, and the Legacy Trail. Venice, Florida is a small town in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
In the distance behind the Circus Bridge is the Venice Municipal Airport. It was built in the 1940's by the United States government as a flight training facility during World War II. After the war was over, the airport was given to the city of Venice with the stipulation that if it were not used as an airport it would revert back to the United States government.
The city of Venice developed during the land boom of the 1920's, and Dr. Fred Albee who was influential in the city's early days was a pilot as well as renowned orthopedic surgeon. He donated land for the city's first airport near the city's current site of Venice High School, and sod runways were used. Albee's patients flew in a 5 passenger aircraft to his private orthopedic hospital. The first recorded flight to Venice delivered fresh strawberries to Hotel Venice on January 13, 1927. The plane landed on Nassau Street.
In 1942 O.W. Caspersen donated 1,600 acres on the south side of Venice where the US Army built the Venice Army Air Base. After World War II the US government gave the airport to the city of Venice. The airport is still in use today and the grounds are used for the famous chalk art festival. Small planes fly daily across the Intracoastal Waterway and Circus Bridge.
In the 1960's up to 1992 the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus wintered in Venice in an arena near the Venice Airport. The Circus Bridge (seen in this photo) was no ordinary bridge. It played a huge part in celebrating the Ringing Circus coming home from a season of performances. Each winter the circus train would arrive in Venice and the animals marched down the street and across this bridge to the nearby arena. Imagine seeing 15 elephants parading across this bridge all at once! Thousands of people came to see the circus here. The arena was demolished years after the circus left, although preserving the structure was attempted.
Next to the airport remains a trapeze practice area which is still in use today. In the foreground you can see the Legacy Trail, a very popular walking and biking trail that runs along the intracoastal waterway. You can walk from South Venice all the way to the historic train station where the circus arrived and up to Sarasota. In December locals ride their decorated boats down the Intracoastal Waterway for the Christmas parade.
This area holds many historic memories for Venice locals. People walking along the Legacy Trail often see small planes taking off from the airport and passing them overhead.
I have more than one version of this photo: a painterly style with impressionist brush strokes and a non painterly one. Both come in color or black and white. I also have other photos taken from a different angle.
Featured in the following FAA Groups:
Black and White Images 8-7-2022
Bridges 9-19-2022
Uploaded
July 4th, 2022
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