Voice of America Bethany Relay Station
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Voice of America Bethany Relay Station | |
Location | 8070 Tylersville Road West Chester, Ohio |
---|---|
Coordinates | 39°21′18″N 84°21′24″W / 39.35500°N 84.35667°W |
Built | 1944 |
Architectural style | Art Deco |
NRHP reference No. | 06001081 [1] |
Added to NRHP | November 28, 2006 |
The
Programming originated from studios in New York until 1954, when VOA headquarters moved to Washington.
The station operated until 1994. The facility took its name from the Liberty Township community of Bethany, which was about two miles north of the facility.
History
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2024) |
In 1943, the United States government bought nearly all of
The transmitters were built by
World War II
The
The Bethany Relay Station specialized in bouncing its shortwave signal off the ionosphere to target regions of Europe and would channel hop, which would have forced Nazi Germany to essentially blanket all short wave frequencies to stop it. Called ‘skipping’ by the radio teams, it had been perfected by radio pioneers in several nations but could be unreliable to use.
The time Bethany could broadcast changed based on weather, so summers saw sunset shows and winters produced local noon shows. While some Germans picked up BBC and AFN on radio sets during the war, the Ohio Liars were able to broadcast from Ohio right into the heart of Germany.
Churchill's speech announcing the end of the war was rebroadcast by Bethany Relay Station on 8, 9, 10, and 11 May and was heard by millions of people across Germany. Memories of hearing this speech are often thought of as hokum because AFN and BBC, when they broadcast it, did not feel they had enough power to send radio signals to Germany. Bethany did have the power by using a rare technique and broadcasting at set times of day across a range of frequencies which were changed often to avoid being blocked.[citation needed]
Post War
Following the war, with the OWI abolished, the facility was taken over by the State Department in 1945. It became part of the newly created United States Information Agency in 1953. The Crosley Broadcasting Corporation operated the facility for the government until November 1963, when the Voice of America assumed direct control.
The facility was closed on November 14, 1994; because of changing technologies, the transmissions shifted to satellites. The towers were brought down from December 1997 to February 1998.
Post-closure use
Most of the land was turned over to the county and township for use as a park.
Part in the southwest corner was sold to developers who have erected a shopping center called the Voice of America Centre.
The Miami University Voice of America Learning Center opened on the site in January 2009.
In 2022, the Voice of America Park hosted a large music festival called "Voices of America", in part to honor the history of the station.[2]
National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting
The 30,000 sq. ft. former Bethany Station building at 8070 Tylersville Road has been transformed into the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting, a historical center about the history of The Voice of America, Powel Crosley Jr. and radio and television.
Using a blueprint developed by Jack Rouse Associates, the facility features displays and interactive experiences that relate the story of the Voice of America and incorporate other related collections from Media Heritage and the Gray History of Wireless Museum in Cincinnati.
Displays include the radio station control room, re-creations of radio and television studios from the 1920s through the present,
An amateur radio club, West Chester Amateur Radio Association, operates a ham station using the callsign WC8VOA.[4]
See also
- USCGC Courier (WAGR-410)
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ "Voices of America Country Music Fest". voacountrymusicfest.com. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
- ^ "Tour Local Broadcast History: The Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting". Media Heritage. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
- ^ "WC8VOA: West Chester Amateur Radio Association". Retrieved November 6, 2022.
Further reading
- Jim Blount. The 1900s: 100 Years In the History of Butler County, Ohio. Hamilton, Ohio: Past Present Press, 2000.
- Virginia I. Shewalter. A History of Union Township, Butler County, Ohio. [West Chester, Ohio?]: The Author, 1979.
- Stern, David & Banks, Michael, CROSLEY: Two Brothers and a Business Empire that Transformed the Nation Cincinnati, Ohio: Clerisy Press, 2006.