WGCD (1490

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...

) is an AM

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Chester, South Carolina Chester is a small rural city in Chester County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 5,607 at the 2010 census, down from 6,476 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Chester County. History While being transported to Richmond, ...

. The station broadcasts an

urban gospel Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prim ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

and is owned by Wisdom, LLC. WGCD is powered at 650

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s non-directional as a Class C station. Programming is also heard on 250 watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

W283CY at 104.5 MHz.

History

On July 18, 1948, the station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A dig ...

for the first time. It was the first radio station in

Chester County, South Carolina Chester County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 32,294. Its county seat is Chester. Chester County is included in the Charlotte- Concord- Gastonia, NC-SC Metropolitan Statisti ...

, put on the air by Morgan Jones Craig (1920-1964), a Chester native with a degree in engineering. Through his work as an aide-de-camp to a general in the Pacific theatre in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he had developed an interest in radio. Morgan Craig designed and built the building where WGCD was housed for many years. The

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assig ...

stands for "Wonderful Guernsey Center of Dixie." Chester was well supplied with this variety of dairy cow and Morgan Craig's father, Alec Bell Craig, had guernseys on the family farm (called "Craigbow") outside of Chester. WGCD was a family business and included locally generated programming. Shortly after World War II, Morgan's sister, Mary Craig, hosted a cooking/homemaking show called "Miss B". Because the Craigs were staunch

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...

s, the 11:15 am Sunday morning worship was broadcast weekly from Purity Presbyterian Church for 40 years, until the 1980s.

References

External links

* GCD Radio stations established in 1977 {{SouthCarolina-radio-station-stub