Seventy-five years ago today, this days issue of Broadcasting, August 11, 1941, carried this image of the shortwave listening post and receiving station of United Press at Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.

The magazine noted that the station’s existence had previously been a rather well kept trade secret, but had only recently been revealed by the press agency. The station had originally started in 1933 with a single operator, whose sole duty was to copy a Morse broadcast from Paris. By 1941, the station employed a dozen operators, and received scores of broadcasts daily from 15 to 20 capitals around the world.

The station was connected to the wire service’s network by a high speed printer connection to New York, and on a busy day for European war news, carried as many as 40,000 words per day.

The station was housed in a farm house, with the surrounding acres dotted with receiving antennas.

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