Old Venus was a town of agriculture workers, cattle drivers, and the remains of the turpentine industry. The town has been documented with many other present ghost towns in Florida ,as a bustling town from 1850 to the 1930s. The U.S. government opened the northern half of Florida to free range cattle grazing in 1859. At this time, most of Southern Florida was still Seminole territory. To keep peace between the tribes and the settlers, the government built a chain of forts along the divide. Because squatters and homesteaders clustered around those forts for protection, Florida still has an abundance of towns and cities with the word fort in their names. The old town was just West of the Rail road track and East of the current Baptist Church. There, the remaining foundation of the Venus General Store can be seen on the North side of the road. Its remnants appear right before you get to the tracks. Notice the concrete curbs of where the city once stood to your right. Across the street was a school and church. Some bricks and broken concrete can be found on the property, and ruins of the sign that once stood there. Further down CR 731 you will find the Old Albritton Store and some old home sites which date back to a time long gone.. The old town supposedly burned long ago. Old Venus began as an area called Fisheating Creek. It was located at the junction of two military trails. Cattle drivers who traveled those trails began settling in Venus in the mid-1800s. There is still an unincorporated area known as Venus, and a considerable number of people have remained living there, though most are now scattered on cattle ranches and citrus farms. At one time, a few miles from the current Venus, there was an actual thriving town that county records list as Highlands County's oldest settlement. As the settlement grew into a town, its name was changed to Venus by a sawmill owner who regularly traveled to Arcadia for supplies. It was said the mill owner liked to make the two-day trip traveling at night. He found his way home by following the bright planet, so Venus came to represent home. The town applied for a post office in 1891, with storekeeper James Willoughby Bailey listed as Venus' first postmaster. It wasn't until 1889 that the county approved a school in Venus and hired a teacher, Isaac Winegrove of Orlando. Winegrove walked all the way from Orlando to Venus because there was no railroad service then and he didn't own a horse. Eventually the railroad would come and run right through Venus from the North to South. During the 1920s Venus grew rapidly as the sawmills provided steady employment. Many two-story homes were built with stores on the ground floor and living space attached above. Carolyn Hargrove, who now lives in Lake Placid, grew up in Old Venus and eventually served as its postmaster. Her parents moved to Venus in 1926 when her father became manager of a turpentine operation. He would later run his own sawmill and dabbled in cattle ranching. "Venus was a real town then," she said. "We had three grocery stores, a gas station, even a boarding house." She adds, "We were especially proud of our three-room brick schoolhouse." When the stock market crashed in 1929, the growing town of Venus had just invested in concrete curbs and poured several concrete foundations for new businesses. In the meantime Mr. John Ringling was building the most expensive home in the world in Sarasota, FL "The Ca D'Zan". Over the next few years, local sawmills folded and people began moving away to find work. All of the Venus stores closed one by one, and the number of local children dipped so low that the school eventually closed its doors in 1933. Amanda and I headed out from Fort Myers (note the name fort in it) and took the old route to Redneck Yacht Club where SR31 takes you to CR74 until you see Tasmania Rd which is the old site of the ghost town Tasmania. Turn left and take the scenic ride out to Venus. We flew over some train tracks and realized hmm we just passed the town no? We sure did, put the car in reverse and back we went to find on your right hand side the site of the old general store. Across the street what would have been the old school site. We were amazed to find that we could see the curbing running clearly down the main street in the town. It sure is mind blowing to think that right after the curbs were cast and placed, it's city would soon sit vacant, with the figurative bones of concrete strewn about the town. An iconic cracker house can be seen when driving out to the old town and it has been photographed for years, lately it's in severe disrepair and one side has collapsed. You could hear a pin drop in this place, just mossy trees blowing in the wind. A historic almost lonely feeling resides here. I can still appreciate what once was, and the people that may have faced many hardships working and inhabiting this land. While driving home I always put on some of my favorite music and try to imagine the people and the laughter that once filled these streets. Nothing is more sobering than to remember, that soon, we will all be relegated to the past and our homes may too be nothing but memories, just like these ghost towns. Little remains of this bustling turpentine, cattle driven town and what does remain is still on private property. Some has been parceled off as a museum, in the new sprawling and self sustaining "city" of Babcock. Private cattle and turpentine land which has faded into the monotony of the Floridian Spanish architecture. Rows upon rows of terracotta roofs, and stucco siding. Will those who migrate here for retirement ever know the heights of the joy, and the troubles these lands have faced? Still, remnants exist on small family ranches and it is up to them to ensure that they will remain in family hands until the end of time. How many more of these sites exist in the swampland of SWFL? Until those interested seek out history, and ask for permission we may never know. C'est La vie! -Mike
Coordinates: 27°4'8"N 81°21'42"W Venus, Florida #hikedontwalk #historicarchaeology #abandonedflorida #ghosttown101 #roadamerica #mikethehikingguide #discoveramerica #venus #venusinusa #turpentineindustry
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5/22/2022 11:26:08 am
hello,
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