KXTV/KOVR/KCRA Tower

KXTV/KOVR/KCRA Tower is a 472.1 metre (1549 ft) high guy-wired aerial mast for the transmission of FM radio and television programs in Walnut Grove, California. KOVR/KCRA Tower was built in 1962. At that time it was one of the tallest structures in the world.

Walnut Grove Tower top building - panoramio

When built, it stood alone as a landmark visible from great distances, so for years it was popularly known as The Walnut Grove Tower. It is also known as Transtower. Several taller masts have since been constructed in the area that tend to be more visible because their white strobe lighting catches the eye more readily than the older tower's more traditional red lighting. The newer towers in the area are all simple vertical steel, but this older tower has a distinctive triangular platform at the top that reflects the original purpose of the tower as a world-class transmission facility for the three major stations then covering the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto media market. One corner of the triangle held the antenna for KCRA (since moved to the taller Hearst-Argyle Tower), and the other two held the antennas of KOVR and KXTV (since moved to the taller KXTV/KOVR Tower).KXTV is no longer a partner or tenant on the tower.

In the early 1960s, KXTV filmed portions of its "KXTV Country" promotion atop the tower. The station's top manager addressed viewers from a tower platform. Also aloft, a musician sang a rendition of the '49er chanty "Banks of the Sacramento" which was modified to refer to the tower: "High in a tower in the western sky."