FIRST STATION IN EACH STATE Source: Compton's Encyclopedia Alabama WGH Montgomery Feb 3 1922 Alaska KFQD Anchorage Apr 1924 Arizona KFAD* Phoenix Jun 21 1922 Arkansas WOK Pine Bluff Feb 10 1922 California KQL Los Angeles Oct 13 1921 Colorado KLZ Denver Mar 10 1922 Connecticut WCJ New Haven Sep 29 1921 Delaware WHAV* Wilmington Jul 30 1922 Florida WQAM Miami Feb 1921 Georgia WSB Atlanta Mar 15 1922 Hawaii KGU Honolulu May 1922 Idaho KFXD* Logan Utah 1922 Illinois WDZ* Tuscola Mar 17 1921 Indiana WGAZ* South Bend Sep 25 1921 Iowa WOC Davenport Feb 18 1922 Kansas WEY Wichita Mar 23 1922 Kentucky WHAS Louisville Jul 18 1922 Louisiana WWL New Orleans Mar 31 1922 Maine WCSH Portland Jul 24 1925 Maryland WKC Baltimore Mar 23 1922 Massachusetts WBZ Springfield Sep 15 1921 Michigan WWJ Detroit Oct 13 1921 Minnesota WLB Minneapolis Jan 13 1922 Mississippi WDBT* Hattiesburg May 1 1925 Missouri WEW St. Louis Apr 26 1921 Montana KFBB Great Falls Jul 11 1922 Nebraska WOU* Omaha Dec 29 1921 Nevada KOH Reno Oct 25 1928 New Hampshire WKAV* Laconia Aug 1922 New Jersey WJZ Newark Jun 1 1921 New Mexico KOB Albuquerque May 1922 New York WJX New York Oct 13 1921 North Carolina WBT Charlotte Apr 10 1922 North Dakota WDAY Fargo May 23 1922 Ohio WLW Cincinnati Mar 3 1921 Oklahoma WKY Oklahoma City Apr 21 1921 Oregon KGG Portland Mar 15 1922 Pennsylvania KDKA Pittsburgh Oct 27 1920 Rhode Island WEAN Providence Jun 5 1922 South Carolina WSPA Spartanburg Nov 1929 South Dakota WCAT Rapid City May 9 1922 Tennessee WKN Memphis Mar 23 1922 Texas WRR Dallas 1921 Utah KZN* Salt Lake City Apr 21 1922 Vermont WCAX Burlington June 1922 Virginia WTAR Norfolk Sep 21 1923 Washington KFC Seattle Dec 8 1921 West Virginia WHD Morgantown Mar 16 1922 Wisconsin WHA Madison Jan 13 1922 Wyoming KDFN Casper Jan 2 1930 *KFXD was originally licensed to Logan Utah in 1922. It moved to Jerome in 1926 and to Nampa in 1929. WDZ Tuscola moved to Decatur. WHAD became WDEL. KFAD became KTAR. WDBT became WFOR. WOU became KOWH. WSAZ became WSBT. KZN became KSL. WKAV became WLNH. ================================================================= FIRST STATION EACH STATE Source: World Book 1992 ALABAMA - WAPI of Birmingham is Alabama's oldest commercial radio station. It began in 1922 in Auburn as WMAV. ALASKA - The first radio station in Alaska, KFQD, started broadcasting from Anchorage in 1924. ARIZONA - KTAR, then called KFAD, was Arizona's first commercial radio station. It began broadcasting in Phoenix in 1922. ARKANSAS - The state's first radio station, WOK, began broadcasting in Pine Bluff in 1920. CALIFORNIA - In 1909, David Herrold began operating a radio station in connection with a radio school in San Jose. This was three years before Congress established radio licensing requirements. In 1913, Herrold adopted the call letters SJN. The station's letters were changed to KQW in 1921, and to KCBS in 1949. California's first commercial radio station, KQL, in Los Angeles, was licensed in 1921. KWG in Stockton was also licensed in 1921, and is still broadcasting. COLORADO - The state's first commercial radio station, KFKA in Greeley, began broadcasting in 1921. CONNECTICUT - The state's first radio station, WDRC, opened in Hartford in 1922. DELAWARE - Delaware's first radio station, WDEL, began broadcasting in Wilmington in 1922. FLORIDA - Florida's first radio station, WQAM in Miami, went on the air in 1921. GEORGIA - The Atlanta Journal established the South's first radio station, WSB, in 1922. WSB became the first radio station in the United States to have regular nightly programs and a slogan, "The Voice of the South." WSB also originated the use of musical notes for station identification. HAWAII - The state's first two radio stations, KDYX and KGU, began broadcasting in Hawaii in 1922. IDAHO - Idaho's first radio station, KFAU (now KIDO), began commercial broadcasting in 1922 at Boise. ILLINOIS - Illinois' oldest radio station, WDZ in Decatur, started in Tuscola in 1921. INDIANA - The South Bend Tribune established the state's first radio station, WSBT, in 1921. IOWA - Iowa's first radio station, WSUI, began operating at the University of Iowa in 1919. Station WOC in Davenport became the earliest commercial station in the state in 1922. KANSAS - Kansas' first radio station was KFH. It began broadcasting from Wichita in 1922. KENTUCKY - The state's first radio station, WHAS, began broadcasting in Louisville in 1922. LOUISIANA - Louisiana's first radio stations, WWL in New Orleans and KEEL in Shreveport, started broadcasting in 1922. MAINE - Maine's first radio station, WABI, began operating in Bangor in 1924. MARYLAND - Maryland's oldest radio stations, WCAO and WFBR of Baltimore, began broadcasting in 1922. MASSACHUSETTS - The state's first radio station, WGI, began broadcasting in Medford in 1920. MICHIGAN - Radio Station WWJ in Detroit began broadcasting in 1920. WWJ and Pittsburgh's KDKA were the nation's first regular commercial radio stations. MINNESOTA - Minnesota's first licensed radio station was WLB (now KUOM), an educational station owned by the University of Minnesota. The station was licensed in Minneapolis in 1922. The first commercial radio station, WDGY, began broadcasting from Minneapolis in 1923. MISSISSIPPI - no information provided MISSOURI - The first radio station in Missouri, WEW of St. Louis University, began broadcasting in 1921. MONTANA - The first radio station, KFBB, began broadcasting at Great Falls in 1922. NEBRASKA - Nebraska Wesleyan University established Nebraska's first radio station, WCAJ, in Lincoln in 1921. The first commercial station, WOAW (now WOW) began broadcasting from Omaha in 1923. NEVADA - The state's first radio station, KOH, began broadcasting from Reno in 1928. NEW HAMPSHIRE - The first radio station in the state, WLNH, was founded at Laconia in 1922. NEW JERSEY - WJZ, the second licensed commercial broadcasting station in the United States, was established in Newark in 1921. This station now operates in New York City. NEW MEXICO - The state's first radio station, KOB, began from Albuquerque in 1922. NEW YORK - The General Electric Company set up New York's first radio station, WGY, in its Schenectady laboratories in 1922. NORTH CAROLINA - North Carolina's oldest radio station, WBT of Charlotte, began broadcasting in 1922. NORTH DAKOTA - The first radio station in North Dakota, WDAY, started broadcasting in Fargo in 1922. OHIO - Ohio's oldest radio station, WHK, began broadcasting in Cleveland in 1922. Also that year, Ohio State University in Columbus started WOSU, the first educational radio station in North America. OKLAHOMA - Station WKY in Oklahoma City, the state's first commercial radio station, went on the air in 1921. OREGON - Oregon's first commercial radio station, KGW, opened in Portland in 1922. PENNSYLVANIA - In 1919, Frank Conrad, an engineer of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, set up a broadcasting station, 8XK, in his Wilkinsburg home. The following year, Conrad and some of the other Westinghouse engineers established radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh. It began broadcasting on Nov. 2, 1920. KDKA and Detroit's WWJ were the first regular commercial radio stations in the United States. RHODE ISLAND - Rhode Island's first radio stations, WEAN and WJAR, began broadcasting from Providence in 1922. SOUTH CAROLINA - The state's first radio station, WSPA, began broadcasting in Spartanburg in 1930. SOUTH DAKOTA - The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology established the state's first radio station, WCAT. The station was licensed in Rapid City in 1922. TENNESSEE - Tennessee's first radio station, WNAV, began broadcasting at Knoxville in 1922. TEXAS - Texas' first radio station, WRR, began broadcasting in Dallas in 1920. UTAH - The state's first radio station, KZN (now KSL), began broadcasting in Salt Lake City in 1922. VERMONT - Vermont's first radio station, WSYB, opened in Rutland in 1930. VIRGINIA - Virginia's first commercial radio station, WTAR, began in Norfolk in 1923. WASHINGTON - Washington's first commercial radio broadcast was made from Everett in 1920 by station KFBL (now KRKO). WEST VIRGINIA - The state's first radio station, WSAZ, began broadcasting from Huntington in 1923. WISCONSIN - The history of radio in Wisconsin dates from 1909. That year, University of Wisconsin scientists conducted wireless experiments. The university radio station was licensed as 9XM in 1916, and the station became WHA in 1922. WYOMING - The state's first radio station, KDFN (now KTWO), began broadcasting at Casper in 1930. ================================================================= BROADCAST STATION PIONEERS: STATE BY STATE Thomas H. White January 1, 1994 This is a review of the pioneer AM band broadcasting stations in the United States, plus the oldest surviving ones. These stations represent fifty-two jurisdictions: the forty-eight states in existence at the introduction of the broadcast service, the then territories of Hawaii and Alaska, plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. Background Trying to determine the oldest broadcast stations can get controversial. Broadcasting was not officially set up as a service category until December 1, 1921. Two wavelengths, 360 and 485 meters (833 and 619 kilohertz), were designated as broadcast frequencies, for stations holding Limited Commercial licences. However, at the time of the adoption of the new regulations nine stations already held Limited Commercial licences authorizing broadcasting on 360 meters. Thus, although most stations herein are listed according to their first broadcast service authorization, the nine stations already licenced for 360 meters on December 1, 1921 are listed by the date of their first Limited Commercial licences. Because being "the first" is a source of corporate and community pride, some broadcast stations have gone to great lengths to claim primacy. A few trace their beginnings to earlier amateur or experimental stations. Some maintain this makes them "older than KDKA", conveniently ignoring the fact that including predecessor stations also makes KDKA "older than KDKA", since it can trace its roots back to Frank Conrad's experimental station, 8XK, started in 1916. However, I personally believe that including non-broadcast predecessor stations is a case of "mixing apples and oranges". First Stations In the year that followed the formation of the broadcast service, the Commerce Department issued over 550 broadcast station authorizations, including at least one for each of the 48 states plus Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. (In two cases -- New Mexico and Idaho -- there was a tie between two stations as first licencee, so fifty-four stations are listed for the fifty-two jurisdictions.) In most cases the first stations to receive authorizations were also the first to go on air, although in a few cases better organized rivals might have beaten them to the airwaves. Only nineteen of the fifty-four stations have survived to today. However, they are among the most prominent in the nation. Surprisingly, two of these stations are no longer in the states in which they originated -- KYW has moved from Illinois to Pennsylvania, and WJZ of New Jersey is now WABC in New York. Thirty-five stations didn't make it -- some expired after just a few weeks or months -- reflecting the tumultuous period of rapid change. Oldest Stations As noted above, in seventeen cases a state's first station is still on the air, and thus is also the state's oldest. However, in most cases it took longer for broadcasting to become established, and the oldest surviving station appeared at some later date, which in the case of Wyoming and South Carolina wasn't until 1929. In three cases stations survive which would be a state's oldest, except they are no longer in their original state. As noted earlier, KYW, Illinois' first station, migrated to Pennsylvania in 1934. Moreover, Illinois' second station, WOC in Rock Island, fled in the opposite direction, going to Davenport, Iowa in May of 1922. It was even more complicated in New Jersey. Among the first thirteen stations licenced there, nine eventually expired and the four survivors all moved out of state -- WJZ (now WABC), WOR and WAAM (now WBBR) going from Newark to New York City, while WIAD (now WDAS) left Atlantic Beach for Philadelphia. In Mississippi, KFNG, first licenced January 27, 1924 in Oxford, would be that state's oldest if it had stayed put. However, in early 1927 it moved to Tennessee as WREC, and was later consolidated with Tennessee's oldest station, WOAN. There are two cases where the most senior station in a state is not listed as the state's oldest, because the station is not a "native", having moved there from another state. The first is the previously reviewed WABC, which didn't move to New York (as WJZ) until May, 1923. Also, WTKZ-930, Huntington, West Virginia, which dates back to November, 1923, was originally licenced in Ohio as WSAZ, and moved to West Virginia in early 1927. Lists This review is divided into two lists -- the main list reviews the first and oldest station in each state, while the second summarizes the state rankings chronologically for both the first and oldest surviving stations. In the main list there are two entries for each state. The first line reviews the first broadcast station authorized within the state, while the second covers the state's oldest survivor. For the first station information, the first entry is the state ranking, with an "*" indicating a tie between two or more jurisdictions. Next is the date of the station's first broadcasting authorization, its original call, place among all station grants in the United States, original city of licence and owner, and finally the current station status -- either "active" or a deletion date. (Both New Mexico and Idaho had a tie for first station within the state, so two stations are listed for each). The second line reports the oldest surviving station for the state. (In seventeen cases the state's first station is also its oldest survivor). Reported first is the state's overall ranking, followed by details about the oldest surviving station: the station's initial authorization date, plus current call, frequency and city of licence. Next, enclosed in parentheses, is the station's overall rankings: among all stations licenced in the state, among all stations licenced in the whole United States, and finally among all surviving stations in the United States. (NOTE: The ranking among stations licenced in the United States is a "best estimate" for initial authorization dates after July, 1922) This can all get a little confusing, so below is a review of a three entries -- CO (Colorado), CT (Connecticut) and KY (Kentucky): Colorado: KLZ in Denver was licenced as Colorado's first broadcaster on 3/10/22. It tied as the 65th station nationally. Colorado was the 19th state or territory to receive a broadcast authorization. KLZ has survived to the present, so it is also the oldest broadcaster in the state. Because of attrition among other stations, KLZ is now tied as the 19th oldest station in the nation, while Colorado has moved up to 10th place among all jurisdictions. Connecticut was the fourth state in the country to receive a broadcast station authorization, for WCJ, on 9/29/21. WCJ was the fifth broadcasting station in the entire nation, but it was deleted on 12/1/22, and a similar fate befell the state's next five stations. It is not until you get to the state's seventh station, WPAJ, that you find one that still survives, as WDRC. WPAJ was the approximately the 646th station licenced in the United States. As WDRC, is approximately the 161st oldest surviving station in the nation. From its fourth place start Connecticut has dropped to 41st place among the states. Kentucky was one of the last states to receive a broadcast station, WHAS in Louisville on 7/13/22, which places it 48th among the states and territories. According to my research WHAS was around the 420th station licenced in the United States. It survives to this day, which makes it the 99th oldest station in the nation. With respect to surviving stations, Kentucky has moved up to 34th place among the states and territories. The final chart is a recap, which lists chronologically the first and oldest stations in each of the fifty-two jurisdictions. Sources The main sources for this article were the Commerce Department's monthly Radio Service Bulletin and annual station lists, plus the Commerce, FRC and FCC files located at FCC headquarters at 1919 M Street, NW in Washington, DC. Additional information came from the station files housed in the Washington National Records Center in Suitland, MD, S.E. Frost's "Educations Own Stations", Ray Poindexter's "Arkansas Airwaves", and Bob McRaney, Sr.'s "The History of Radio in Mississippi".