WPON
radio station in Walled Lake, Michigan
WPON (1460 AM) is a radio station in the Detroit market, broadcasting from a 6-tower array in Walled Lake, Michigan.
History
WPON was founded in September 1954, with studios in Pontiac, Michigan, and towers located at the corner of Square Lake Road and Telegraph Road in neighboring Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
The station was owned for many years by Chief Pontiac Broadcasting, broadcasting such formats as top-40 and Country music. Broadcasting at 1000 watts omnidirectional, the station covered the majority of Oakland County.
WPON was sold to Michigan Cablevision and Radio in 1977. The company was backed by Wisconsin Cablevision and Radio, and brought talent in from Wisconsin for news and operations positions. Shortly after taking ownership, the studios were moved from the Pontiac State Bank building in Pontiac to a one story building on Huron Street in Waterford. The station switched to country music in the wake of the Urban Cowboy movement. Now becoming an active part of the Pontiac and Waterford area, they soon embraced the local country music scene. The station had local artists and bands performing live on-air each week, transforming its newsroom into a live music studio for a program, "Hometown Country." In 1980, WPON took this a step further, producing an album, "Hometown Heroes", a collection of self-recorded country singles from local artists.
“WPON” enters the record as radio station in Walled Lake, Michigan. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what WPON, radio and station can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“WPON” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, WPON, radio and station provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7954414. Authority coordinates are 42.544, -83.499. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1460, 1954, 1000 and 1977.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “WPON”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow WPON primary sources, WPON archive and WPON research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “WPON”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “WPON” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.