The waymark coordinates are located at the corner of Commerce and Ervay in downtown Dallas.
KERA-FM 90.1 has been broadcasting in Dallas since 1946, when it signed on as the city's first FM radio station from a dedicated FM broadcast antenna installed on top the The Mercantile Building, known locally as "The Merc."
From the papmphlet "Counting Stars and Kilocycles - 25th Anniversary of WFAA Radio, Dallas TX (1947)" found on the American Radio History website: (
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"[page 41] CHAPTER VII
THIS was intended to be a small booklet and original space allotted has already been exceeded. But with all due respect to the paper shortage a little more must be said.
A radio station is by the very nature of things more of a public than a private institution. During the waking hours of every average individual it stands by to entertain, to inform, to educate, to warn. It beams its broadcasts on a frequency denied all others.
. . .
Since radio broadcasting began in America, this vital new force has helped shape the life of every individual. It has been inevitably linked with the development of communities.
June 26 is the twenty-fifth anniversary of Radio Station WFAA. From its stumbling beginning two and one-half decades ago, through constant experimentation, trial and error, this station has become one of the giants of the radio world.
WFAA has never lagged, never followed. It has led always. It has been first to give its listeners the latest and best.
Its firsts in the provision of network facilities have been described as have its pioneerings in studio construction, Texas' initial vertical antennae. There are many others.
WFAA obtained the first FCC license for experimental facsimile broadcasting-back in 1938. It established Dallas' [page 42] first frequency modulation station-KERA-in 1946. . . ."
And from Wikipedia: (
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"The Mercantile National Bank Building (known colloquially as The Merc) is a 31-story, 159.4 m (523 ft) skyscraper at 1700 Main Street in the Main Street district of downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the former home of the Mercantile National Bank, which later became MCorp Bank. The design of the skyscraper features Moderne styling from the Art Deco era and was designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager. The building has a series of setbacks that is crowned by an ornamental four-sided clock along with a decorative weather spire. The Merc was the main element of a four-building complex that eventually spanned a full city block.
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History
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The Mercantile National Bank Building was completed in 1942 and was the only major skyscraper constructed during World War II. The U.S. government had called for a halt of private construction to fuel supply materials for the war effort. However, most of the tower's steel had been prefabricated and was given a special waiver from the government. The bank lobby Art Deco wood murals were the largest in the world at the time. In addition to the bank and other offices, the federal government took 10 floors to hold offices for various war agencies. Mercantile Bank owner and founder Robert L. Thornton constructed his own penthouse level in the upper floors.
In 1947, an illuminated tower was constructed, which KERA used for radio broadcasts. In 1958, this tower was replaced by the current illumination tower and clock. In the 1960s, the original stone façade at the base of the building was covered by a modernist curtain wall facade.
At its completion, the Merc was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River and it was the tallest building in Dallas until 1954, when Republic Bank Tower I surpassed it. The building has 31 stories, and when the 115 feet (35 m) foot ornamental clock tower is included, is 545 feet (166 m) feet tall; making it the 19th-tallest building in Dallas. It also contains 359,348 square feet (33,385 m2) of floor space."