I will be spending this early Christmas morning on KWTO-AM from a little after 7am until 9am. Why? Because it is the 81st anniversary of the first broadcasts of the KEEP WATCHING THE OZARKS station. It began its 81 year run on Christmas Day, 1933 at the height of the Great Depression. I will be visiting with KWTO morning line hosts Gary Williams and John Henderson about some of the history of the station. What a rich history it has. Some of the folks who appeared LIVE on KWTO thru the years include: Slim Wilson, Chet Atkins, the Haden Family, Homer and Jethro, Shorty Thompson, the Blansit and Mabe families, Stan Hitchcock, Speedy Haworth, the Carter Sisters (June etc), Joe Slattery, Paul Mitchell, Bill Ring and thousands more! If you have time tune to 560 AM this Thursday as we have fun remembering some of KWTOs good old days. PHOTO: A few weeks ago at this site I talked about George McDaniel of Springfield who sadly saw his McDaniel National Bank fail in 1931 (founded 1911). He had acquired the farm from his widowed mother Emma Evans McDaniel, as Georges family had owned it since at least the 1870s. Georges obit mentioned that he passed away at his farm south of Springfield on Campbell Street Road. Well here is an aerial view of that fine farm around 1946. IF you look very carefully you will see the new KWTO transmitter towers on the extreme upper left. We are looking to the southeast. The George McDaniel farm is in the lower half of this photo. See the nice 2 story house on the right (west) side of South Campbell or then Highway 123 (now Highway 160)? That is where Mr McDaniel passed away. That property would become a part of the Tom Smith Park Crest Addition. The Campbell 16 movie complex is off to the left or northeast of the McDaniel barns etc. The road that is seen intersecting with S. Campbell on the far middle right is Republic Road (M Highway). And Republic Road heads east to the north of the KWTO towers. There is a private drive that goes south (right) from Republic Road, west of the KWTO towers----that farm became the Twin Oaks Country Club. Much of the wonderful farm land in this picture is now consumed by James River Expressway etc. Off to the south is good ole Christian County. I suppose in my first 10 years of life if I was coming to Springfield from my farm home near Nixa, I would have NEVER come any other route with my parents and grandparents than the Campbell Street Road. And they always referred to this fine farm, as the McDaniel Farm, even though a man from California by the name of C. L. Chester had bought it around 1941, and then sold it around 1946 to Nixa native Ray Hedgpeth. Ray is the fellow that had this aerial photo taken, for he soon sold the place. Ray went on to buy hundreds of acres of land in Christian County, but he often said the biggest mistake of his life was selling the McDaniel Farm! ***Am I remembering right----didnt Springfield gas station businessman Wayne Young buy it next? Also seen: what was on Springfield radio in August, 1951 for Sunday and Monday mornings.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 02:11:50 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015