City To Unveil Historic Marker In Honor Of Tampa Pioneer

TAMPA, FL -- Fortune’s Friends and the city of Tampa will honor an African-American pioneer of Tampa when it unveils the Madame Fortune Taylor Bridge historic marker Sunday, May 20, at 10 a.m.

A ceremony will take place at the Tampa Riverwalk along Doyle Carlton Drive prior to the unveiling. The unveiling will be held at the east entrance to the Fortune Taylor Bridge (formerly Laurel Street Bridge) on Laurel Street at Doyle Carlton Drive.

The event will include music, dance, poetry and history.

Fortune’s Friends was formed to honor Fortune Taylor Ranson, who lived from 1825 to 1906.

An unsung pioneer, Ranson, known as Madame Fortune, donated her land so the bridge could be constructed to provide access to the struggling cigar industry in West Tampa.

Ranson is the namesake of East and West Fortune Street in downtown Tampa as well as the connecting Fortune Street Bridge (1892-1969).

Fortune Street was disconnected from the bridge with the construction of the interstate in the late 1960s.

Last October, the Tampa City Council voted unanimously to restore Fortune's name to the historic bridge over the Hillsborough River, calling it the Fortune Taylor Bridge.

Additionally, the Hillsborough County Historical Advisory Council voted unanimously on Jan. 31 to install the Madame Fortune Taylor Bridge historical marker on the east side of the bridge on land she once owned.

For more information, click here.

Image via Fortune's Friends