An unassuming, two-story, red brick garage on the border of Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg was the site of an important contribution to broadcast history — the world’s first wireless voice broadcast on Oct. 17, 1919.
Using bare wires, crackling spark coils and homemade vacuum tubes, Frank Conrad sent a two-hour-long concert of jazz, opera, popular and orchestral music over the airwaves to amateur radio buffs who listened in on crystal radio sets. His broadcast proved so popular that he began sending it over the airwaves every Wednesday and Saturday evening, often reaching listeners a couple hundred miles away.
Mr. Conrad was assistant chief engineer at Westinghouse’s East Pittsburgh plant. Harry P. Davis, a Westinghouse vice president, was aware of the popularity of the broadcasts but took little interest -- until he saw a newspaper ad for Horne’s department store in September 1920 offering radios for sale to pick up Mr. Conrad’s broadcasts. After that, he persuaded others in the company that Westinghouse should set up its own station.
Mr. Conrad was asked to work on the new station, which made its first broadcast on Nov. 2, 1920, from a small wooden shack atop the "K" Building, the tallest at the Westinghouse East Pittsburgh plant, informing listeners of the results of the Harding-Cox presidential election.
"Westinghouse had applied for a commercial license but hadn’t yet received it by the time of the broadcast," said Rick Harris, a graphic designer from Forest Hills and secretary-treasurer of the National Museum of Broadcasting. "The company used a temporary amateur call sign 8ZZ for the broadcast."
A couple days later, the license was issued with the call sign KDKA.
To honor Mr. Conrad’s contributions to the broadcast industry, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission approved a historic marker to be erected on a street adjacent to the Conrad garage. Dedicated on Dec. 1, 1990, the marker was later removed and placed in storage when the property and garage were sold in 2000 to make way for a fast-food restaurant.
"The goal of the NMB had been to preserve the garage and make it the centerpiece of a larger museum," Mr. Harris said. "But when the property was sold, we were given a few months to dismantle the garage and tried unsuccessfully to find the necessary funding from Pittsburgh foundations and historical societies."
Help came from Ralph Guild, a radio advertising executive from New York City who wanted to give something back to the industry. With his financial backing, the garage was dismantled and the bricks, rafters, joists and windows were placed in storage along with documentation on how to put the garage back together.
At 2 p.m. Oct. 17 — 95 years to the day of Mr. Conrad’s historic first broadcast — the marker will be rededicated at its new location at South Trenton and Penn Avenues in Wilkinsburg.
Bill Hillgrove, play-by-play announcer for the Steelers and board member of the National Museum of Broadcasting, will lead the rededication ceremony, which will begin inside the Community LIFE Building, 301 Meade St., Wilkinsburg, then move outside to the new site of the marker.
Frank Conrad’s great grandsons, Jamie Conrad and actor David Conrad, will attend. David Conrad, an Edgewood native, is best known for his starring role in the “Ghost Whisperer.”
Following the marker rededication, patrons will move back inside the building for refreshments.
"The NMB is working on a plan to rebuild the garage and is looking at several sites in the Pittsburgh area," Mr. Harris said. "We would like to have it be the centerpiece of a larger museum and have it rebuilt in five years in time for the 100th anniversary of Conrad’s first broadcast."
Tracey Evans, executive director of the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corp., said her organization is working on a project to restore the Wilkinsburg train station and would like to make space available to the museum.
According to Ms. Evans, the community development corporation has received two grants to start work on the exterior of the building and has raised $225,000 of the $1.6 million needed for the restoration project.
"Pittsburgh, more than any other city in the world, has been an innovative center for radio and television broadcasting, Mr. Harris said. "We at the NMB want to see that its historical broadcasting legacy is preserved."
Details: 412-727-7855.
Dave Zuchowski, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.
First Published: September 25, 2014, 4:00 a.m.
