KWYO Laramie, Wyoming - 1929

Wyoming was the last state to have a licensed station when KFBU commenced broadcasting on October 3rd, 1922. The station was conceived and headed by Bishop Thomas of the Episcopal Church and operated from the basement of St. Mathews Cathedral in Laramie.

Tower view of St. Mathews Cathedral, Laramie. The cross at the top of the spire is 36 metres (118 feet) above the ground and 2218 metres (7276 feet) above sea level, which makes St. Matthew's the highest cathedral in the United States (photograph Wikimedia Commons).

In January 1929, the callsign was changed to KWYO.  However, the station only operated with the new callsign for a brief period until September 1929 when it was shut down.

KFBU/KWYO Engineer Marion W. Gieseking (who  verified and signed the QSL) on the left and Robert C. Horne seated in the control room inside the basement of St. Mathews Cathedral, Laramie, Wyoming (photograph, dated January 1929, from the University of Wyoming digital collection).

KWYO operated on a frequency of 600 kilocycles with an output of 500 watts.



The KFBU/KWYO Westinghouse transmitter situated inside the control room in St. Mathews Cathedral (photograph, dated January 1929, from the University of Wyoming digital collection).

"Top of the World" Broadcasts : Wyoming's Early Radio

by Howard Lee Wilson 

Click onto the image title below for a detailed and fascinating "behind the scenes" account of cathedral broadcast station KFBU :

Additional Images