William Howard Frankland
William Howard Frankland was an American businessman who proposed the W. Howard Frankland Bridge over Old Tampa Bay.
The son of a horse buggy seller, he arrived in Tampa, Florida in 1925 from Jackson, Tennessee. He founded Pioneer Tire as well as Rubber Products, Inc., and was a banker as well as a member of the Florida State Road Board.
Frankland proposed a new bridge as he felt the land between the existing Gandy Bridge to the south and the Courtney Campbell Causeway to the north was ripe for development. He and his family participated in the opening ceremonies for the span on January 15, 1960.
Frankland died in 1980 at age 79 in Tampa. Frankland Road in Tampa's Golfview neighborhood is also named for him.
