The Dollaradio place I linked to yesterday was as I mentioned a radio and telegraph relay station built by a man born in 1844 and Richard Byrd’s Antarctic expedition posted its updates through it. And here I thought it was some ’60’s hippy commune built with whatever came to hand.

It turns out two men added a kitchen and turned it into their home right after WWII, trying to keep the historical details, and in 1977 some guy bought it despite his wife really having issues with that. Understandably. But she ran an animal rescue and it had plenty of room for their dogs and cats and it worked out.

So it was a ham shack! was Richard’s reaction, pleased.

He got his ham radio license after the Loma Prieta quake, when his aunt was a half mile from the epicenter and we couldn’t reach them that first day. Hams work where phones don’t.

And then he volunteered with the Red Cross and municipal disaster services for years and did the annual Field Day, where you try to connect with fellow hams around the world in testing the system. Byrd’s ghost would be pleased with that.

But as for that real estate listing, I doubt you’d be able to get an occupancy permit now unless your name is Neptune.