WSTB

The area was developed in the early '60s, by which time only remnants of the track and stands could be still be found in the woods. Flyntvalley Court is now in what was the center of the oval track.

It's interesting to read the track area (with years of oil, gasoline, and grease) won't grow grass. That site is likely a contaminated brownfield. Something to keep in mind if buying a house there. I couldn't find any remnants of the old track, when visiting that area.

I'm guessing if Peace Haven Speedway was expanded to a three-quarter-mile track and modernized (I think this was possible in the 1950s), it would likely still be on the NASCAR Cup Series. Just a guess. The Triad is one of their top TV markets, moonshiners in neighboring counties gave birth to the sport, and their major sponsor at the time Bowman Gray Stadium was removed from the Grand National / Cup Series was in Winston-Salem. I would think if Winston-Salem had a larger track that was kept up-to-date, it would still have a date on the series or at least stayed in the Cup Series until the late 1990s. Bowman Gray is too short and qualifying can often determine where a driver finishes.

Something different for Winston-Salem music this week!

To me, this was a tower in old photographs (and often marked on maps) that I think was located where the two-storey Publix is, next to Salem Parkway? It's interesting to finally hear what 1340 WAIR sounded like. It has a "swinging" sound. It would be great if we had one of these for 1380 WTOB and 980 WAAA (from that time) to compare. If this is out there, those two could be out there, too? It's also fun to hear everything (commercials, weather, etc.) centered on Winston-Salem, including a downtown temperature. I'm guessing the others and WXII 12 and WTOB 26 also had only Winston-Salem and close-in suburbs in commercials, weather, and everything else said on their broadcasts?



I wish I could download this and save it. It's an interesting history item for the city.

I think the tower was here: https://www.google.com/maps/@36.0949424 ... 384!8i8192

Was that the tower WFDD used that was destroyed in the May 5, 1989 tornado?

Yes, it was there in an open field along with a small shed sort of across from the old American Legion Building.

"Get your free thongs at Pic 'N Pay Shoes, North Liberty at 29th Street within sight of the airport."

Ha! That intersection no longer exists.

There was one the fell on May 5th on the old mattress store right where Salem Kitchen is now. The building closed for a few years and reopened with all the new store options

July 1970 train ride from Union Station, showing the skyline:

Notice the RJR smokestacks - still at their full height before being topped.

Very cool! When I was a child, our first grade classes took a little short train trip that stopped at Union Station.

I didn't notice it had the smokestacks before their shortening. It seems like I've heard why, but I don't remember why they shortened them? A neighboring Hanes smokestack (now at Winston Factory Lofts) was cut so dramatically, it now says just ".K.Co." I want to say that was Hanes' power plant smokestack? Looking at the taller neighboring buildings, it can't be the airport and I would think taller smokestacks would help reduce pollution at street level? Maybe the smoke was an obstruction to air traffic, but the Bailey smokestacks weren't cut by much? Winston-Salem would have taller buildings and likely the main airport for the Triad if they would've built it closer to where Union Cross Business Park is now located. If they would've built it on the same site as the original 1911 airfield, it not only would've saved them money, but it would also be recognized as the oldest airport in the Carolinas if it stayed there. If they built Smith Reynolds Airport an equal distance from the downtowns of Winston-Salem | High Point | Thomasville, it may have had more passengers and even more flights. They could've built early highways connecting it to all three cities. It also could've opened the door for partial funding from those communities. I will step out there and say I-85 may have passed through that corner of Forsyth County / Winston-Salem (following those early highways) if it was built there as a three-city airport. Building the airport so close to downtown was a mistake. Even another half-mile to the northeast would've been better for downtown. Wachovia originally proposed a 550 foot building around 1991, that would've been the third tallest in the Carolinas (second tallest at the time of its proposal, but third tallest at the time of actual completion), but I've heard the airport said no. Reynolds also wanted to bring the southeast's tallest title back to Winston-Salem in 1969, according to the old Emporis, but the airport said no.



A fun fact I've recently discovered: Only one side of the Wells Fargo Center meets the sidewalk and the Wells Fargo Center is 485 feet from the lowest point where it meets the sidewalk to the highest point, at the top of the dome. The 460 foot height is from the northeast corner of the park, which isn't where building heights would be measured. Winston-Salem's tallest building is actually 485 feet tall / 147.9 meters tall.

People have told me it was taller on that side than what is often shown for the building (usually saying something in the 480s), but I only recently found proof of this. It's measured from the service entrance on Liberty Street to the top of the dome. Even Smith Reynolds Airport has a taller height than the official height, but theirs is measured from half the height difference between Main and Liberty streets, through the middle of the tower, to the top of the dome. Their number is 476 feet / 145 metres. I think it was 462 feet / 140.9 metres on its shortest side, where it meets the walkways. The height above the sidewalk is the tallest height of 485 feet / 147.9 metres.

The real heights:
Wells Fargo Center: 485 feet / 147.9 metres
Winston Tower: 412 feet / 125.6 metres (This one is actually very close - just two feet different from what we have)
Kimpton Cardinal Hotel: 330 feet / 100.6 metres

I was able to convert the WAIR video into an mp3, using two items I bought as a teen to listen to mp3s in my car. An mp3 player that could record in mp3 format and a device that allowed it to play over the car audio system. I had to search for two different cables and was able to make it work. So, I do now have it saved, if it disappears. The volume/loudness on mine is lower and maybe the audio quality is not as good, but the commercials can be heard and it's saved if it disappears or moves behind a paywall.

When I tried to look for others, I found this:

WSJS in 1964 with music. I'm guessing this was for a middle-age (in their 30s or 40s) crowd? Worth noting: They actually speak of all three cities, but use "Triangle" to describe the area. Was the Triad originally known as the Triangle in the 60s or was this a mistake? Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill is known as the Triangle today, or at least it is to me. They also report weather from the airport in that county to the east. Sadly, it doesn't have any commercials or really much to it. However, we have an idea of what it sounded like.


WAAA in the 1950s? This one has its history described by local historian Fam. Like the WSJS video, it doesn't have commercials and isn't very long. It's still interesting.


I would love to find another one from the 50s/60s with the commercials, news, and weather, along with some of the music. Seeing this, I'm thinking it's out there. I know there was a WTOB that had younger pop music. From what little research I've done on the subject, the FMs (nationally) had few listeners in the 1950s/1960s and usually replayed the AMs. You can see that in the WSJS video, which is WSJS AM and FM. If FMs had different programing not on AM, it was usually instrumentals and classical music and often used as background music in stores/restaurants. I think that described WSEZ 93.1? FMs would later experiment with different niche rock music for people with nice stereos, which I think WKZL 107.5 was in the late-1960s?

I just found this from one of the sources above (WSJS-TV 12 Greyhound Commercial): (Do you think those are Winston-Salem highways? They look as if they could be, but it could also be a national ad filmed in another state?


I also just found this with both WSJS-TV 12 and WTOB-TV 26 from the 1950s! (also includes WFMY)


This thread now has all of the TV channels in Winston-Salem at that time (1950s/1960s) and half of the radio.

F&M, thanks for posting those! My parents used to listen to WSJS radio in the morning and my mom loved Perry Como. His song on the clip you posted brought back so many memories, it made me tear up.

My dad was a HUGE Perry Como fan. "Catch A Falling Star" was a major part of my childhood soundtrack.

My sister and I would spend our summer vacation from school visiting family up north. Chicagoland one year and New York City the next. When visiting our paternal grandparents in New York, we found our dad's old record collection. I can remember one was called "Funny Bone," with comedy songs that my sister loved. That was also when I learned about K-Tel compilations. They would shorten several popular songs of that time to fit maybe 20 (don't remember exactly?) on a record. And then there was the big console stereo system and collection of Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Tony Bennett, etc., vinyl records that our paternal grandparents listened to. I think the previous two posters know what I'm talking about, but for others around my age or younger: It was a massive piece of furniture with speakers on the front and the top could be lifted to reveal a radio and record player. It was THE high-end stereo system of the 1960s: https://www.google.com/search?q=console ... QIDhAB&biw And there was also our grandfather's massive Cadillac land yacht (maybe 60s or 70s model year?), with "American Popular Standards - 1560 WQEW New York" on the radio. In later years, it was a station called WLHI (Sorry, I don't remember where it was on the radio dial?). I'm guessing WQEW changed their music? I think there was another one in New Jersey he listened to, also on AM, but I don't remember it? I do remember hearing Perry Como every-other summer and think of New York when I hear that music. I don't recall what our mom's side of the family in the Chicago-area listened to? The New York stations are more memorable, though. I can still remember some of them saying "From the top of the Empire State Building" and "from the top of the World Trade Center" and the 60s/70s music station would say "From the Greatest City in the World," with "New York New York" playing the background. I was starting to get interested in cities and skyscrapers and would hear that when visiting family over the summer or during the holidays.