Central Illinois
Radio History
&
News Reporting during the Golden Days of
Radio Broadcasting in Coles County Illinois
WDZ     WLBH    &  WEIC


By: Howard Taylor, Son of a Radio Personality

 

        The radio is still popular, but broadcasting isn't the same as in the Golden Days (1930's through the 1960's).  I mean the Golden Days of radio in East Central Illinois.
        It all started at Tuscola, Illinois with the grain reports and intermittent music broadcasts of James L. Bush from the new WDZ.   This would actually be the second commercial radio station in our Country, going on-air March 17, 1921 (St. Patrick's Day).
         Such names as Clyde Wiley, Mark Spies, Edith Bush, Jimmy Livesay, Smiley Burnette, Lee Lynch, and many others would be very popular in a large area of the Midwest.  At night (during testing)  you could hear the little WDZ all over the world.  There wasn't any interference to stop it as would be today.
  This web site is dedicated to the memory of the late J.R. (Jimmy Ray) Livesay, of Mattoon, Illinois, a pioneer in the radio and television in the Midwest and nationally.

Here's Where to Go on My Site:

WDZ,  "The Little Station from Tuscola"

WLBH, Mattoon (Sophistication for Central Illinois)

 The Coles County Reporter:  Lee Lynch

The Coles County Reporter:  Louise Taylor

 WEIC A New Sound For Charleston, Illinois

 News Highlights and Stories of the Coles County Reporters

Illinois Map of Our Area

I hope you will enjoy my historical site.

Visit my other historical site
 When the Gong Rings
(A  History of the Charleston (Illinois) Fire Department from 1875-1985)
For Other Interesting Sites Concerning Radio History

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