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What's in a name: Courtney Campbell Causeway

By and Corey Beckman
Published  February 11, 2025 6:45am EST
Tampa
FOX 13 News

History of the Courtney Campbell Causeway

FOX 13’s Alyse Zwick looks at the origin of the Courtney Campbell Causeway and the man behind the name.

The Brief

    • Tampa businessman and engineer Ben T. Davis began the seven-year construction project in 1927, which cost $1 million to complete.
    • The War Department seized control of the causeway during World War II and eliminated tolls on the causeway as part of the war effort.
    • U.S. Representative Courtney W. Campbell had the causeway dedicated to him after he directed government funding toward the rehabilitation and improvement of the highway.

TAMPA, Fla. - It's 10 of the most beautiful miles in the Tampa Bay area. The Courtney Campbell "Scenic" Highway certainly lives up to its designation.

But the causeway didn't always go by that name.

The Courtney Campbell Causeway.

The Courtney Campbell Causeway.

The backstory:

It was originally built as the Ben T. Davis Causeway. In the 1920s, Tampa businessman and engineer Ben T. Davis saw a business opportunity in upper Tampa Bay. 

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"Even though the Gandy Bridge existed in the 1920s and early 1930s, it was still inconvenient to get from Tampa to Clearwater because either you go all the way over the top through Oldsmar, or you go kind of around through St Pete for the Gandy Bridge," says Tampa Bay History Center Historian, Rodney Kite-Powell.

Davis wanted to offer an easier way to get to the Clearwater beaches.

Dredging of the causeway began in 1927, and construction was completed seven years later at a final cost of $1 million.

The Courtney Campbell Causeway being dredged.

The Ben T. Davis Causeway, now the Courtney Campbell Highway, as it was dredged.

"It was a toll road. Davis didn't want to miss any income or any opportunities to collect tolls day or night. So, when he built the toll booth, he actually built his house on top of it," says Kite-Powell.

The Davis family lived above a two-story toll booth. At the time, the toll cost just a quarter for cars to go one way, plus a nickel per passenger.

The Davis family home above the two-story toll booth.

The Davis family home above the causeway's two-story toll booth.

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"He used the tolls to both pay back the expense of building the bridge and then also as income," says Kite-Powell.

The toll booth on the Courtney Campbell Causeway.

The toll booth on the Ben T. Davis Causeway, which is now the Courtney Campbell Causeway.

Dig deeper:

Davis's cash cow didn't last long, however.

During World War II, the War Department seized the causeway, paying Davis $1.1 million and eliminating tolls as part of the war effort. 

Over the years, however, the government did not maintain it very well. Then, U.S. Representative Courtney W. Campbell entered the picture.

Headshot of U.S. Representative Courtney W. Campbell.

Headshot of U.S. Representative Courtney W. Campbell.

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Local perspective:

"He (Campbell) was able to direct government funding towards the rehabilitation and improvement of the causeway," says Kite-Powell. 

The Courtney Campbell Highway being dedicated to Courtney W. Campbell.

The Ben T. Davis Causeway being rededicated to Courtney W. Campbell as the Courtney Campbell Highway.

As a thank-you for helping create some of Tampa Bay's most beautiful hangout spots, the roadway was renamed the Courtney Campbell Causeway in 1948.

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A hangout spot along the Courtney Campbell Highway.

The Source: FOX 13 traffic anchor Alyse Zwick and photojournalist Corey Beckman collected the information for this story.

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