|
CLICK THUMBNAIL TO JUMP TO ENLARGEMENT In January 2008, the Bay Area Radio Museum acquired via auction a collection of fifteen photographs bearing images of Radio Station KYA — its transmitter building and tower, various staff members, and studio facilities — apparently dating from the 1930s through the 1950s. A selection of these photographs, some of which included notes on their reverse sides, and others that did not, are reproduced below.
ABOVE: A view of the KYA transmitter building atop
Candlestick Hill in the southeastern section of San Francisco. The
building was designed for station owner William Randolph Hearst by Julia
Morgan, and represents one of her more "plain" creations; she had also
been commissioned to design Hearst's sprawling castle at
San Simeon,
among other projects he commissioned with the classically-trained Morgan
over the years.
ABOVE: Members of KYA's staff. According to the hand-written
legend on the back of the photograph, the men shown are (top row) Paul
Schulz, Russ Pray, Toby Hamma and Joe Landells; (bottom row) Clair
Morrison, Chrisman [no first name noted] and Bill Overstreet. According
to the timeline history of KYA, Mr. Morrison was manager of the station
beginning around 1928.
ABOVE: An unidentified studio at KYA. The
location, which could be at Candlestick Hill or at either the Hearst
Building or the Fairmont Hotel, is not noted on the photograph.
ABOVE: An unidentified person, shown at a
small console with microphone, telephone, turntables and phonograph
records — as well as a bottle of Coca-Cola. Location unknown.
ABOVE: According to the hand-written notation on the back of this photograph, shown is: "Engineer This photograph dates from after the
Summer of 1958, when KYA moved from the Fairmont to the Mark Hopkins
annex at 1 Nob Hill Circle, and perhaps significantly later, owing to
the appearance of cartridge recorders and well-stocked cart racks,
as well as a 45 r.p.m. record on the turntable.
ABOVE: The generator room in the
"transmitter basement" at the KYA building atop Candlestick Hill.
ABOVE: This photograph of an audio mixing
console and telephone-line switchboard includes the notation "KYA in
Hearst Building" on the reverse. KYA was purchased by William Randolph
Hearst in 1934, and was located in the Hearst-owned Examiner Building at
Third and Market Streets in San Francisco from 1934 until July 1949,
when the station moved to the Fairmont Hotel.
ABOVE: The RCA "Speech Rack" housed at
KYA's facility in the Fairmont Hotel.
ABOVE: This photograph is annotated
"Studio A Console" on the reverse. It may be the same console shown in
the "Hearst Building Studio" photograph (above on this page).
ABOVE: Another angle on the KYA transmitter building and
the base of the 450-foot Bethlehem Steel antenna tower, apparently taken
on the same date as the first photograph (top), but showing the freshly-
(or recently-) graded site, which would perhaps date the photograph to
mid-1937; the station moved into this facility on May 15, 1937. Another
view of the building, probably taken on the same date and showing the
full height of transmitter tower, may be viewed by
clicking here. RELATED EXHIBITS:
|
![[ Return To The Bay Area Radio Museum ]](http://www.sfradiomuseum.com/logos/barhof_logo_110px.gif){kind=logo}
