WRDW Radio - Augusta

[RadioFan2J3]

WRDW Radio in Augusta, now gone.

WRDW was Augusta's first radio station, dating back to 1930 and had moved its transmitter to the site off Eisenhower Drive, near the Augusta Canal, in the early 1940s - directional at night, with a three tower array. On 1480 kHz at that site, then apparently moved to 1630.

Looking at Google Earth views, three towers still in place in 10/2017, by 4/2018 only one tower (the center tower) and 9/2019, that tower no longer there.

On April 11, 2019, WRDW went silent (off the air), due to its transmitter site having been sold.[1] Its license was surrendered September 27, 2019, and cancelled by the Federal Communications Commission on February 13, 2020.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRDW_(AM)

 

[kenglish]

I remember the call letters from living in Macon, as a kid. Probably heard them a few times as well.

Sad to think that we are a business where the parking lot is now more valuable than the store. With the current pandemic, many other industries may go the same route. Will commercial and industrial property go that way, with everyone eventually working from home?

 

[RadioFan2J3]

I remember the call letters from living in Macon, as a kid. Probably heard them a few times as well.

Sad to think that we are a business where the parking lot is now more valuable than the store. With the current pandemic, many other industries may go the same route. Will commercial and industrial property go that way, with everyone eventually working from home?

Parking lot may be a good description. I was chatting with someone in Augusta radio and he told me the site was bought by the Augusta National for overflow parking and in one of the Google Earth shots, many cars are parked behind the two old buildings (which are also gone, now) - the parking was for guests to the Masters.

The Augusta National has a lot of clout and bought out a bunch of land on the other side of the old Berckmans Road location and had Berckmans Road relocated, giving the Augusta National room to expand the course property without crossing the old road.

I guess money talks.

 

[RF101]

It was a decaying site, even back in the 80s-90s when I lived in the area. The Augusta-Aiken area has lost a lot of AMs over the years thanks in part to poor, sandy soils which are lousy for ground conductivity.

Let's see:
Waynesboro - 1340 (?)
Augusta - 1480/1640 (and long periods of silence from 1230)
Burnettown SC - 1510 (WWWA - a cool station ... toward the end as "The Cruise"
Aiken SC - 990 (WAKN)
Aiken SC - 1300 (or was it 1320) daytimer to 96.3
Johnston SC - 1190 (WJES)

 

[RadioFan2J3]

I left the Augusta area in the mid-1970s, so I've had virtually no contact with any of the Augusta stations or full-time people since that time. Had a phone conversation with Bruce Moyers, a few years ago, who was at WGUS in that timeframe, but that was about it.


WBRO was my first part-time weekend job, in the mid-1960s and I did transmitter baby-sitting at WRDW, working for Bob Hunnicutt, as I had a first phone - that would have been maybe `1966-1968 or so.

 

[RadioFan2J3]

Let's see:
Waynesboro - 1340 (?)
Augusta - 1480/1640 (and long periods of silence from 1230)
Burnettown SC - 1510 (WWWA - a cool station ... toward the end as "The Cruise"
Aiken SC - 990 (WAKN)
Aiken SC - 1300 (or was it 1320) daytimer to 96.3
Johnston SC - 1190 (WJES)

1340 was WBBQ's AM frequency, now WYNF.

Waynesboro's WBRO was 1310.

Been a long time since I've had anything to do with Augusta radio.