T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY KFJB employees congregated for a photo inside of the studio at 123 W. Main St. to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the radio station receiving its commercial license on June 2, 1923.

On Friday, News Talk 1230 KFJB AM and 93.9 FM celebrated its 100-year anniversary.

KFJB was founded as an experimental radio station by the late Earl Peak who operated Marshall Electric Company in Marshalltown, Iowa beginning as early as 1919.

On Sept. 23, 1922 staff at Marshall Electric/KFJB built and then ran a three block long microphone cable through the studio window and along West Main Street to Franklin Field at the corner of 13th and Main. Two Marshalltown football games were broadcast live that afternoon. The Marshalltown High School Bobcats defeated the Plainsmen of Belle Plaine 32-0 in the first game and then shut out the Toledo Raiders 28-0 in the second game. On that fall day, KFJB became the first radio station to broadcast a football game live from the field in the United States from Franklin Field in Marshalltown.

On June 2, 1923, KFJB was commercially licensed by the US Government and is recognized as the 17th radio station on the air in the United States. Ten watts of transmitting power was authorized.

Over 100 years of broadcasting, KFJB has been at the forefront of local news, information and entertainment for Marshalltown, Marshall County and Central Iowa including:

• World War II coverage

• The almost hiring of Ronal Reagan

• KFJB’s Man on the Street Program

• Korean War Coverage

• The famous KFJB Barn Dances

• The launch of new FM signal technology

• The launch of KFJB-TV

and so many more.