Who The Heck Is Howard Frankland?
I have lived in Tampa my entire life and only recently have I began to look into some of Tampa’s history and the most influential people from its past. No matter where you drive in Tampa you will come across a bridge with a persons name, Gandy, Howard Frankland, Courtney Campbell and so on. I thought we would start with Howard Frankland and who the heck was he?
William Howard Frankland was the third of five sons of Frank Mortimer Frankland and Bertha F. Vosburg. Frank M. Frankland was a traveling salesman in Chicago where he and Bertha married on Nov. 30, 1892. The Frankland’s lived in Chicago until 1900 or 1901 and had 2 children there: Leonard Earl Frankland in 1894 and Walter Leslie Frankland in 1896.
Howard Frankland came to Tampa in 1925, during the real estate boom. Swampland was selling for $1,000 a square foot; unsuspecting customers bought pieces of bay front flatlands for home sites.
Check out the history of Howard Frankland and how he influenced so much here in Tampa Bay. Check out the crazy history of Howard Frankland below
Dead Presidents In Downtown Tampa
Kennedy Blvd. - Not necessarily irrelevent, but do you know what the road was named before being named after Kennedy?
(Photo by Fester/BBGI)
Kennedy Blvd., of course you know about his life and death. Did you know the name of the road before it was named for the 35th president? Lafayette Street
Corner of Jefferson St. And Washington St. - More of the obvious... we'll get to the irrelevant soon
(Photo by Fester/BBGI)
Of course there is George Washington Street and a Thomas Jefferson Street.
Andrew Jackson
(Photo by Fester/BBGI)
Again, one of the obvious choices to have a named road in downtown Tampa.
Zack Street
(Photo by Fester/BBGI)
Then there is Zack Street, named for president Zachary Taylor. A famous military general from the war of 1812 but a very unmemorable president.
James K. Polk
(Photo by Fester/BBGI)
There is also a street named after President James K Polk. Another in a long line of unremarkable presidents in the early half of the 1800s in the United States.
If you were wondering, Polk County, Hillsborough County’s neighbor to the east, is also named after President James K Polk, although the man never set foot in the state of Florida.Franklin Pierce
(Photo by Fester/BBGI)
And of course, we cannot forget President Franklin Pierce. He was the last president before the tensions that eventually led to the Civil War, really started heating up.
William Henry Harrison
(Photo by Fester/BBGI)
There is a Street for president, William Henry Harrison, who is only famous for being in office the shortest amount of time. He died shorty after catching a cold during his inauguration speech.
John Tyler
(Photo by Fester/BBGI)
And then there is President John Tyler, he was most famous for being the first man to become president from the vice president’s office. This one however, actually makes the most sense, President Tyler was in office in 1845 when Florida was admitted as the 27th state to the union.
