On January 8, 1923, WQAN “the Voice of Anthracite” went on the air. The station was started by the Scranton Times after purchasing WRAY in November 1922.
Since that broadcast, WQAN and then later WEJL have been providing the people of Northeast Pennsylvania with news, information and music. Today, Times-Shamrock Communications local broadcast stations are WEZX (Rock 107), WFUZ (ALT 92.1) and WEJL (local ESPN Radio).
The January 9, 1923 edition of the Scranton Times had complete coverage of that first broadcast. It appears below.
The Scranton Times – January 9, 1923
Here are few images from the first broadcast day –
The Scranton Times – January 9, 1923
The Scranton Times – January 9, 1923
Over the years, countless people have visited the Times Building to perform or to be interviewed over our radio stations. In 1962, the radio station was visited by two special four legged friends – Sinbad and Sylvia – lions cubs from Nay Aug Park Zoo. You read more about their visit and listen to the podcast dealing with the lions of Scranton at https://accessnepa.com/pages-from-the-past/historically-hip-lions-of-scranton/.
Brian Fulton has been the librarian at The Times-Tribune for the past 15 years. On his blog, Historically Hip, he writes about the great concerts, plays/musicals and celebrity happenings that have taken place throughout NEPA. He is also the co-host of the local history podcast, Historically Hip. He competed and was crowned grand champion on an episode of NPR quiz show “Ask Me Another.” Contact: bfulton@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9140; or @TTPagesPast
