Elmer G. “E.G.” Beehler was a self-taught engineer and inventor who built KGEK, one of the earliest radio stations on Colorado’s Eastern Plains, with his own hands.
KGEK
With little formal schooling, Beehler held several patents, including one for the typewriter backspace key. According to the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado, he founded, engineered and built the equipment for KGEK in Yuma, broadcasting there from 1921 to January 1925, and later owned and operated the station in Sterling from 1934 to 1966. They describe it as Colorado’s third-oldest station. To grow his audience, he sold radios out of his own electrical store. His son-in-law, Al Ross, took over the business side in the 1940s, leaving Beehler to concentrate on engineering.
Some other accounts put KGEK’s founding in Yuma at 1938 and its move to Sterling in the 1950s; the archive notes both while records are checked. Beehler was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado Hall of Fame in 2005.
Sources
Stations They Worked At
FROM THE TIMELINE
Career Moments
1921: E.G. Beehler starts broadcasting in Yuma
1921 — According to the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado, self-taught engineer Elmer G. Beehler began broadcasting from Yuma on equipment he built himself, the start of KGEK. He sold radios from his electrical store to build an audience. Other accounts date KGEK’s founding in Yuma to 1938.
1934: KGEK is operating from Sterling
1934 — The Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado place E.G. Beehler’s KGEK in Sterling from 1934, with Beehler owning and running it until 1966. Other accounts date the move to Sterling to the 1950s.
KEEP EXPLORING
Go further down the dial
HELP IMPROVE THE ARCHIVE
See something that needs a correction?
Suggest a correction or add information to this person. Nothing changes publicly until it is reviewed.