FLORIDA LOOKOUTS

VENETIA

Sarasota County

October 19, 1969:   "A fire tower has 106 steps and is 85 feet high.  Margie Knauff ought to know.  She climbs up and down one many times a day.
      Margie and her husband, Charles, informally known as Pete, have been working the Venetia Tower on US 41 between Venice and the Englewood road since 1952.  In fact, they've spent most of their married life in fire towers.
      The Knauff's tower was constructed in 1956.  When Pete and Margie came, there was only the tower and a swampy acre."   (The Tampa Tribune)

​October 30, 1974:   "Mike Keel, district forester for the five-county area including Sarasota and Charlotte counties said Tuesday the closing of the Venetia Tower of the Division of Forestry will not result in decreased fire protection.
      The old fire spotting tower, located on State Road 775 about four miles south of Venice, will lose its full time spotter in November.   The news prompted worries on the part of Clifford Horn, chief of the South Venice Fire Department, that the area might be in trouble when the brush fire season arrives."   (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)

February 27, 1975:   "The Venetia fire tower will not be closed, according to a spokesman for the Florida Division of Forestry.
      Recent cutbacks had caused rumors that the entire operation was to be phased out, and the tower torn down.  District Forester Mike Keel said federal money made available from a new program to create civil service jobs for the unemployed has restored full manpower at the facility."   (News-Press)

July 30, 1988:   "State Forest Ranger Jimmie Stanford climbs the steps at the Venetia Tower south of Venice.  Stanford has been watching out for fires from the tower for 15 years.  The tower is 85 feet high and has 106 steps."   (The Tampa Tribune)
​

March 2019:   The tower dismantled for removal.  The parts shipped to New York where re-assembly is planned for the upcoming summer.

---