Nearly 30 years, The Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle-York area had about a dozen radio station owners and along with them about a dozen studio facilities, all of which required at least one person manning them during all hours of broadcast operation. Briefly back in 1983, a close radio buddy and myself attempted to visit as many of these facilities as possible in what we deemed “The Sunday Night Radio Club”
Certain circumstances occurred yesterday that allowed us to try and duplicate one of those Sunday night radio geek adventures. We visited Lebanon County, the one area that still boasts all independent station owners. In 1983, we successfully visited WLBR/WUFM, WAHT AND WVLV in one night. All of those stations are still on the air, now as WLBR/WQIC, WWSM AND WADV.
We decided not to visit WADV as they seem to never have anyone live when we listened. We figured that WLBR/WQIC would most likely have someone there, so we stopped there, but that’s another post. After listening for awhile, we weren’t sure whether WWSM had someone on-duty in the building or not. So, we decided to pay a visit.
WWSM is now located in a building in Palmyra once occupied by WCTX (now WTPA). This the 2nd or 3rd studio location for 1510 since the original WAHT studios that were once co-located at the tower site on Route 241 had burned down back in the 1980s. We had visited this building when it was occupied by WCTX. We almost missed it as the trees had greatly grown up over the past 29 years.
As we pulled into the driveway, our hopes of getting a tour of the facilities were buoyed as we spied 2 vehicles in the parking lot. We parked and got out of our car and we spotted the only identification of the building’s occupant… a vinyl banner with their call letters and frequency posted on the front wall. Yeah, a little tacky but in this economy, who can spend $500-$600 for a custom sign? I get that. We noticed that outside the building worn out tires lined the perimeter of the driveway. A shed without a gate was attached to the main building, loaded with a mower; old air conditioners and other assorted exposed junk. Laying in the yard was a circa 1995 computer that was once property of Franklin and Marshall College. Unlit Christmas lights hung on the exterior of the building
We proceeded to open the screen door and entered a little porch. It most certainly was the front door as there was a note from the GM explaining business hours. The building was dark, but we still hoped that someone was working and we would get a tour. We rang the doorbell several times, but no one answered.
After awhile, I peered through the window in the door. Here’s what I saw: The front room appeared not to be a reception area, but the engineering room. There were pieces of torn-down equipment and tools strewn around the room. There were more Christmas decorations hanging. The decor looked unchanged from the WCTX/Hugh Clinton era, which was 1950’s era in 1983. Here’s the topper: lying on the floor amidst the equipment parts was a sledgehammer and also an AX!! Yes an ax!! I guess Clear Channel and Cumulus don’t have a monopoly on giving people the ax… LOL! When it was clear that no one was going to answer the door, we walked around the building. The grass hadn’t been mowed in at least a month. More dead air conditioners and a seemingly endless array of old Marti antennas were lying willy-nilly in the grass.
As we decided to leave, we then realized that those 2 vehicles in the driveway, one most-likely a rusted-out 1977 Oldmobile Cutlass and the other a small pickup, had probably not been moved in awhile….A LONG, LONG WHILE. The pickup looked like it was being used for storage, as it was stacked with boxes. The rusted-out Olds could well have been someone’s living quarters.
Later that afternoon, we arrived at WWSM’s tower site, south of Annville on Route 241. It was the site of WAHT’s studios from 1968 until a fire destroyed them along with their transmitter in the 80s. As we first spotted the harshly faded towers as we winded along 241, it was clear that they had not been painted for a long time,…….A LONG, LONG TIME! Upon taking a closer look, it looked like the towers are almost completely rusted through. The guy wires look like thinned out shoelaces ready to snap. In fairness, though, it appears that they had rectified the specific issues that had gotten them notice from the FCC, but if another tornado comes through like the one that blew through Campbelltown in the mid 2000s, it could spell the end of one ore more of those towers.
The best part was all the junk in what was formerly the basement of the studio. It is actually a chilling sight to behold. It looks like there was no attempt to clean up after the fire, it looks like the whole lot was just abandoned. The concrete stairway leading to what was the building remains. Various Marti antennas lay nearby. There’s even a used tire, just like at the studio. But the really eerie part is the basement. There’s an old rack with what is left of an Ampex reel-to-reel deck. Plus at least two abandoned vehicles well hidden from sight! There was more, but it didn’t look safe enough to try to get a closer look.
Last year, a board poster elected to take me to task for comparing the owner of WWSM to “Mr. Haney”, the junkyard proprietor of the 60s TV show “Green Acres”. There was even a threat of violence to me in reaction to my comments.
I’m here to tell you, Mr. Haney is alive and well and operating a radio station in Lebanon County, PA. If you don’t believe me, observe this operation for yourself.
“Would anyone like to buy a gen-u-wine rad-did-io station?”
Certain circumstances occurred yesterday that allowed us to try and duplicate one of those Sunday night radio geek adventures. We visited Lebanon County, the one area that still boasts all independent station owners. In 1983, we successfully visited WLBR/WUFM, WAHT AND WVLV in one night. All of those stations are still on the air, now as WLBR/WQIC, WWSM AND WADV.
We decided not to visit WADV as they seem to never have anyone live when we listened. We figured that WLBR/WQIC would most likely have someone there, so we stopped there, but that’s another post. After listening for awhile, we weren’t sure whether WWSM had someone on-duty in the building or not. So, we decided to pay a visit.
WWSM is now located in a building in Palmyra once occupied by WCTX (now WTPA). This the 2nd or 3rd studio location for 1510 since the original WAHT studios that were once co-located at the tower site on Route 241 had burned down back in the 1980s. We had visited this building when it was occupied by WCTX. We almost missed it as the trees had greatly grown up over the past 29 years.
As we pulled into the driveway, our hopes of getting a tour of the facilities were buoyed as we spied 2 vehicles in the parking lot. We parked and got out of our car and we spotted the only identification of the building’s occupant… a vinyl banner with their call letters and frequency posted on the front wall. Yeah, a little tacky but in this economy, who can spend $500-$600 for a custom sign? I get that. We noticed that outside the building worn out tires lined the perimeter of the driveway. A shed without a gate was attached to the main building, loaded with a mower; old air conditioners and other assorted exposed junk. Laying in the yard was a circa 1995 computer that was once property of Franklin and Marshall College. Unlit Christmas lights hung on the exterior of the building
We proceeded to open the screen door and entered a little porch. It most certainly was the front door as there was a note from the GM explaining business hours. The building was dark, but we still hoped that someone was working and we would get a tour. We rang the doorbell several times, but no one answered.
After awhile, I peered through the window in the door. Here’s what I saw: The front room appeared not to be a reception area, but the engineering room. There were pieces of torn-down equipment and tools strewn around the room. There were more Christmas decorations hanging. The decor looked unchanged from the WCTX/Hugh Clinton era, which was 1950’s era in 1983. Here’s the topper: lying on the floor amidst the equipment parts was a sledgehammer and also an AX!! Yes an ax!! I guess Clear Channel and Cumulus don’t have a monopoly on giving people the ax… LOL! When it was clear that no one was going to answer the door, we walked around the building. The grass hadn’t been mowed in at least a month. More dead air conditioners and a seemingly endless array of old Marti antennas were lying willy-nilly in the grass.
As we decided to leave, we then realized that those 2 vehicles in the driveway, one most-likely a rusted-out 1977 Oldmobile Cutlass and the other a small pickup, had probably not been moved in awhile….A LONG, LONG WHILE. The pickup looked like it was being used for storage, as it was stacked with boxes. The rusted-out Olds could well have been someone’s living quarters.
Later that afternoon, we arrived at WWSM’s tower site, south of Annville on Route 241. It was the site of WAHT’s studios from 1968 until a fire destroyed them along with their transmitter in the 80s. As we first spotted the harshly faded towers as we winded along 241, it was clear that they had not been painted for a long time,…….A LONG, LONG TIME! Upon taking a closer look, it looked like the towers are almost completely rusted through. The guy wires look like thinned out shoelaces ready to snap. In fairness, though, it appears that they had rectified the specific issues that had gotten them notice from the FCC, but if another tornado comes through like the one that blew through Campbelltown in the mid 2000s, it could spell the end of one ore more of those towers.
The best part was all the junk in what was formerly the basement of the studio. It is actually a chilling sight to behold. It looks like there was no attempt to clean up after the fire, it looks like the whole lot was just abandoned. The concrete stairway leading to what was the building remains. Various Marti antennas lay nearby. There’s even a used tire, just like at the studio. But the really eerie part is the basement. There’s an old rack with what is left of an Ampex reel-to-reel deck. Plus at least two abandoned vehicles well hidden from sight! There was more, but it didn’t look safe enough to try to get a closer look.
Last year, a board poster elected to take me to task for comparing the owner of WWSM to “Mr. Haney”, the junkyard proprietor of the 60s TV show “Green Acres”. There was even a threat of violence to me in reaction to my comments.
I’m here to tell you, Mr. Haney is alive and well and operating a radio station in Lebanon County, PA. If you don’t believe me, observe this operation for yourself.
“Would anyone like to buy a gen-u-wine rad-did-io station?”
