The Ward Baking Company of New York, which purchased this former United Motor Co. building at Tampa and Frances Streets in 1945 for $85,000, came from a dubious background in the 1920s. The company’s vice president was millionaire Walter S. Ward. He allegedly shot Clarence Peters, a man he claimed was blackmailing him, through the heart in 1922 in Westchester, N.Y. The case became a national sensation overnight with headlines about “The millionaire killer.” After a protracted trial revealing his drinking, gambling, and dealings with the underworld, he walked out of court a free man. The Peters family filed a civil suit in 1926, and in true dramatic fashion, Ward vanished, eventually turning up in Cuba. The baking company continued without him and expanded to Tampa in the 1940s.

Some neighborhood residents fought the permit when the company moved in, fearing it would bring too much noise. But the city zoning board allowed it. It opened in 1947. After that, they continued to expand. Despite neighbor noise complaints, they added a gas station and loading dock in 1949. The Burgert photo shows a sign that reads, “To be the new home of Tip-Top Bread when conditions permit.” The business continued until 1965, when the building was auctioned for $85,000, and a dental supply house moved in. Hallmark Emblems Inc. now has its embroidery business in the building

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