Venice was laid out in 1816 by Maj. Fred Falley and by 1818 was the largest village west of Cleveland. The first Venice flour mill was built there in 1822, and after Russell Heywood of Buffalo bought it in 1831 and rebuilt it in 1833, the spring-fed mill operated almost constantly as farmers from northern Ohio and southern Michigan brought grain for processing. Venice flour became an important staple for pioneers settling the Midwest, and a six-hundred-foot pier on Sandusky Bay let cargo vessels load flour for transport. By 1875, demand required day and night shifts at the mill. The mill closed in 1945 after 122 years, and the building was razed in 1962. Venice also shared in the region's wine industry, with the Steuk family's vineyards planted in 1865, the Dora family beginning grape production in 1869, and the Mantey Winery opening in 1880 and operating today as Firelands Winery. Of several communities of faith established in Venice, one remains: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, which began as a mission of Zion Lutheran, Sandusky; Zion completed the Venice Chapel in 1914, and Trinity Church was organized in 1926. The Village of Venice was annexed into Sandusky in 1963.