The Rollins
W. Coakley
Railroad Park
Many of our members
remember Rollins W. Coakley, who
retired in 1981 as Assistant Director of Commuter Services. Rollins and his wife June retired to Venice, Florida
in 1982 where Rollins, with a
life-long interest in railroad history, became involved in civic affairs
including the preservation and restoration of the historic Venice Train Depot
with its 3-1/4 acre depot site located directly to the north. In recognition of Rollins' 20-year effort and
his many hours of work on the project, the depot site was named the Rollins W. Coakley Railroad Park by the
Sarasota County Board of County
Commissioners and
dedicated on March 22, 2005.
The park
includes scenic walkways, picnic tables, benches, a restored caboose and a
statue dedicated to circus great Gunther Gebel Williams, who is widely regarded
as one of the greatest wild animal trainers of all time.
The Venice
Train Depot was built in 1927 by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. Sarasota County purchased the depot site in
1999. The depot restoration, a $2.3
million project, was separately dedicated on October 24, 2003.
The Venice Area
Historical Society conducts tours of both areas on Monday, Wednesday and
Friday, Nov. 1 through May 1, starting every half hour from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. For more information call 941-412-0151,
or visit the Venice Area Historical Society Web site at www.venicehistory.com. Be sure and visit the Park and the restored
Railroad Depot when you are in the area.
The Coakley
family’s connection with the Chicago & North Western goes back to 1867 when
Rollins’s great-grandfather
immigrated to Denison, Iowa from Ireland and landed a job as Section
Foreman on the C&NW. Rollins passed
away on May 2, 2007
at Provo, Utah.
Revised: 04/10/08