First Lady of Venice speaks

KIM COOL

Our Town Editor Emeritus

VENICE — You can meet amazing people at Venice Historical Society meetings — the first first lady of Venice for one.

She was presented recently by Frank Wright, president of the society.

Not the current first lady — the first first lady: Ann Worthington.

As the featured speaker at the July meeting, in the freight room of the Historic Venice Train Depot, Venice resident and VHS member Jeana Hilligoss led us all back to the late 1920s in Venice. (Lunch included Bertha Palmer brownies made from the recipe used at the Palmer House Hotel which her husband owned in Chicago.)

Dressed in a 1920s-era white dress, suitable for the time, Hilligoss portrayed the Ohio socialite who was married to the man who would be the first mayor of Venice, Ned Worthington.

Ned Worthington, as a millionaire in Cleveland, was involved with the heads of that city’s Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the BLE.

The BLE was investing big money in the development of the John Nolen planned city of Venice, Florida. The BLE, the largest labor union in the US in those days, had plenty of money.

The BLE had acquired the Nolen plan and property from early arrival Dr. Fred Albee who had purchased land in Venice on his arrival in the area in 1917. While famous as a surgeon for his bone graft techniques developed during World War I, by 1922 he had plans for a city in the Venice-Nokomis area. He opened the Polyanna Inn, assembled the Venice- Nokomis Chamber of Commerce and opened the first bank in the area — the Venice-Nokomis Bank.

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Jeana Hilligoss speaks during a presentation at Venice Historical Society as she portrays Ann Worthington at the freight room of the Historic Venice Train Depot.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY BILL HABERTHUR

From left, Mary Huba, VHS President Frank Wright, Jeana Hilligoss as Ann Worthington and Fran Valancic stand at a recent event. Huba and Valencic have portrayed Ann Worthington in the past.

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In 1925, Albee bought land in the area of today’s Venice and hired famed city planner John Nolen to design the city. The Tamiami Trail was built from Tampa south and from Miami north and would meet at Venice. All boded well for a new city and ultimately for a hospital where Dr. Albee would perfect his bone grafting and other techniques.

But first he would sell his plan and acreage to the BLE.

The BLE promoted the area as a retirement community, bringing potential buyers to the area by train to the depot and housing them in three hotels which had been among the first buildings in the city.

Ann was an asset to her husband and Venice in those days. She was born in 1887 in Cleveland and would die in Cleveland at the age of 91. She is buried there in Lake View Cemetery.

“I was fluent in French, Spanish and German,” Hilligoss said as Ann Worthington. “I was an equestrian, a golfer and swimmer. I had traveled with my family on two ‘grand tours’ of Europe.”

The Worthingtons knew Thomas Edison, Ulysses Grant and Andrew Carnegie among others. They had two sons, Edward and Randall, who would remain in Cleveland Heights.

In 1924 Ann had been injured while riding and the doctor suggested spending time in Florida to heal her shoulder.

“Ned rented a car for me,” Ann said. “I headed to Siesta Key Beach with its white sand.

“We became good friends of John and Mable Ringling.” With her car, she was able to explore the area, seeing today’s Venice area and its beach on one of those drives.

“I saw an alligator on a log and I saw the beach and lots of land.”

She spoke about the land Dr. Albee would purchase from Bertha Palmer, the land that would be Venice and designed by John Nolen also thanks to Albee, a fellow Harvard graduate.

Her talk was enhanced with photos shown on a large screen in the freight room where all had enjoyed lunch of croissant sandwiches, chips, cookies and those “Palmer House Brownies.”

Although Ann Worthington’s husband was often in Cleveland, supervising the construction of their mansion in Cleveland Heights, he would soon be “appointed” the first mayor of the city of Venice, making Ann the first “first lady” of Venice.

Ann was instrumental in making women in Venice comfortable with sports and other activities in those few years before the Great Depression when Loretta Albee founded the Woman’s Club and the first library was created.

As Ann, Hilligoss spoke of the George Webb house at 605 W. Venice Avenue, still the largest house in Venice.

“Homes and buildings had to follow the Mediterranean Revival theme,” she said. “Stucco exterior and red tile roofs.

“Landscaping was part of the plan.” The BLE purchased additional acreage beyond the Nolen plan for farmers. That too would be lost when the Depression arrived.

Ned Worthington remained tied to Cleveland Heights and the construction of their mansion there. When the Depression arrived and Venice was turned into a ghost town, the first mayor left Venice, never to return.

While Venice had only 100 residents in those bleak years, it had sewers and street lights, although the city lacked the money to light the street lights.

Ann would return sometime in the 30s and would marry again after her husband’s death, although she too would maintain a residence in Cleveland Heights.

Hilligoss looked her part as Ann Worthington and had done her research to give an inspiring presentation as part of the society’s Betty Intagliata Lecture Series. Intagliata and her husband Paul were at the depot for the depot event.

Also present for the meeting were two earlier Ann Worthington presenters, Mary Huba and Fran Valencic, columnist for the Venice Gondolier Sun.

Next month members will meet at Venice Yacht Club. Meanwhile, VHS docents give free guided tours of the Circus Train Car Museum at the Venice Depot each Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the summer.

There are several membership categories for the VHS. To learn more, visit venicehistoricalsociety.org or write to Venice Area Historical Society, PO Box 995, Venice FL 34284-0995.

Email: kim.cool.sbc@gmail.com

A group of people socialize at a recent gathering of the Venice Historical Society at the freight room of the Historic Venice Train Depot.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY BILL HABERTHUR