KGEI was a

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

founded by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

in 1939. It was purchased by the Far East Broadcasting Company in 1960.

History

KGEI was founded by GE in 1939 at the

Golden Gate International Exposition The Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) was a World's Fair held at Treasure Island in San Francisco, California, U.S. The exposition operated from February 18, 1939, through October 29, 1939, and from May 25, 1940, through September 29, ...

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure a ...

with the call sign W6XBE, before changing to KGEI in August 1939. The station at this time had a 50 kW GE transmitter. In 1941, the station was relocated to

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose, California, San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 accor ...

, following the end of exposition, right next door to today's KNBR. The transmitter building was built with reinforced concrete construction designed to withstand bombs. Prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the station aired isolationist programs such as those of

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

along with

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

bulletins. During World War II, General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

's "I have returned" speech was aired by KGEI. During the years of 1954 and 1955, the station was used to air

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

's International University of the Air program. In 1960, the station was purchased by the Far East Broadcasting Company. In 1962, during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

, the station served as a temporary relay of the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

. During the 1970s, a Missions Engineering 250 kW transmitter was added to the station along with log periodic antennas. FEBC closed the station down in July 1994. The 50 kW transmitter was donated to the Christian missionary organization SIM for use in

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

. However, it was destroyed during an attack on the facility shortly after its installation there. The 250 kW transmitter was also donated to a Christian organization, Project Aurora and was moved to Alaska. The transmitter building was sold to Fully Alive Church, who eventually sold the building to Silicon Valley Clean Water, a wastewater treatment plant, on adjacent property.

References

Shortwave radio stations in the United States Defunct radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1939 Defunct religious radio stations in the United States Radio stations disestablished in 1994 Golden Gate International Exposition Far East Broadcasting Company Redwood City, California Defunct shortwave radio stations {{Christian-radio-station-stub