For more than a century, Streator learned about itself through local newspapers and, later, its hometown radio station. These outlets recorded the town’s openings, disasters and celebrations, and they trained some notable people along the way. For more city history, visit our History of Streator.
A Town of Many Papers
Like most booming industrial towns, Streator supported several newspapers around 1900. Two show up often in the historical record. The Streator Daily Free Press covered the 1907 opening of the Majestic Theatre in loving detail, from its electric fans to the free ice water served to patrons. The Streator Independent Times played a different role in local history.
The Independent Times and a Future Labor Leader
Around 1904, a 16-year-old named Reuben Soderstrom went to work at the Streator Independent Times as a printer’s devil, the lowest job in the print shop. There he met columnist John E. Williams, an early Illinois labor leader, who introduced him to the writings of labor economists and reformers. Soderstrom became a union linotype operator and joined International Typographical Union Local 328, the start of a career that made him president of the Illinois State Federation of Labor for 40 years. In this case, a newspaper shaped history as well as reporting it.
The Times-Press and The Times
For decades Streator’s own daily was the Times-Press News. Its reporting is now an important historical source, documenting events such as the 2010 tornado and the canteen monument dedication in 2006. In 2005 the Times-Press merged with the Ottawa Daily Times, and Streator news has since been covered by The Times, published in Ottawa. Today local coverage appears under Shaw Media’s Shaw Local brand, which has reported on stories such as the final Mass at St. Stephen’s in 2023 and the 2024 glass plant closure.
WIZZ and WSPL Radio
Streator got its own radio station in 1953, when WIZZ signed on at 1250 AM. On January 25, 2001, it took the call letters WSPL. Over the years the station carried news and talk, then oldies, along with plenty of local content: a morning drive show, the call-in trading show The Swap Shop, and Streator Township High School football. Illinois Hall of Fame broadcaster “Big Al” Hauessler called local sports, and the station also simulcast Chicago White Sox and Bulls games.
Polka Party
WSPL’s longest-running show was “Cousin Ed” Nowotarski’s live Polka Party, which ran for 34 years until he retired in November 2001. For many Slovak, Polish and other Central European families in the area, it was a weekly link to their heritage. Nowotarski died in January 2004.
The End of WSPL
In 2023 WSPL and its sister stations were sold to Shaw Media for $1.8 million, and Shaw Local Radio took over on April 3, 2023. The 1250 AM transmitter went silent on September 1, 2023, with programming moving to an FM translator (98.5) and an HD Radio channel. Shaw requested cancellation of the AM license, and the FCC cancelled it on March 8, 2024, ending 70 years of Streator AM radio.
Related Streator History
- Streator History Overview
- Reuben G. Soderstrom: Streator's Champion of Illinois Labor
- The Majestic Theatre: A Century of Streator Entertainment
- The Streator Free Canteen: Feeding 1.5 Million WWII Troops
Sources
- WSPL – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSPL
- Streator, Illinois – Wikipedia (Media). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streator,_Illinois
- Reuben G. Soderstrom – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_G._Soderstrom
- Cinema Treasures – Majestic Theatre (Streator Daily Free Press excerpts). https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/5132
