An interesting and short-lived blip occurred in the Tampa newspaper business in 1925 with the creation of the Tampa Telegraph. Col. W.F. Stovall published his first Tampa Tribune in 1893 following the acquisition and merger of two smaller papers. He published his progressive paper for thirty-two years before mistakenly selling it in a quirky deal for $ 1.2 million that he tried to rescind but was refused. Angrily, he backed his son Wallace O. Stovall in establishing a rival daily morning paper called the Tampa Telegraph that opened in 1925 in the former Knights of Pythias Hall pictured here. Col. Stovall, who owned several buildings downtown, had purchased it for $200,000. The opening brought three daily papers to the area, the other being the Tampa Times. They bought the most modern equipment and leased the full wire service of United News and United Press news agencies.

The paper ran for nine months, ending when the Tribune purchased the Telegraph in 1926 for an undisclosed amount and by mutual agreement between the two entities. The purchase included all of the circulation (subscribers) and equipment. Stovall was publicly criticized for his spiteful ways in opening the paper. He still owned the building but sold it to the board of trade for $150,000 in 1927. In 1988, construction for the 28-story, 375-foot Two Mack Center office building began. It opened in 1991. In 1992, Hillsborough County Administrator Fred Karl pushed the county to buy the building as its new county center. The purchase price was $ 30 million, and an additional $12.1 million was spent on the interior. Moving here, thirty county departments were consolidated under one roof, and the Frederick B Karl Hillsborough County Center was renamed.  

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