The Greatest Railroad Station On Earth

This is the railroad staion  used by Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus.( http://www.ringling.com/ ) starting in 1960 when the circus moved to Venice, Florida.  The circus would get off the train in Venice and parade down the street to their winter quarters.  The station was part of the first succesful railroad in Sarasota County Florida built by the West Indies Railroad and Steamship company in 1903.   In 1918 the railroad was extended to Venice because the Manasota Lumber Company built a sawmill so lumber could be shipped to the Tampa shipyard.

The station also has a statue of Gunther Gebel-Williams who may have been the greatest lion tamer of all times.  I remember when the circus came to town being so excited to see Gunther Gebell-Williams.