Paul Kallinger

Kallinger's station, XERF, broadcast from Ciudad Acuna across the Rio Grande, beyond the reach of American rules on power and content. Border radio men Don Howard and Walter Wilson and Del Rio attorney Arturo Gonzalez obtained its Mexican license in 1947. By the early 1950s its transmitter had grown from 50,000 to 250,000 watts, enough to reach Korean War servicemen at sea. On the air Kallinger promoted country singers including Webb Pierce, Jim Reeves and Johnny Horton. Gonzalez kept the station until 1986, and AM 1570 still broadcasts as La Poderosa.

What the plaque says

Paul Kallinger (December 4, 1922 - May 29, 2001) FASCINATED WITH THE VERBAL ABILITIES OF AUCTIONEERS AND RADIO HOSTS, PAUL KALLINGER ENTERED FREDERICK H. SPHERE RADIO ANNOUNCING SCHOOL IN HOLLYWOOD AFTER SERVING IN WWII WITH THE U.S. COAST GUARD. AFTER A SHORT JOB IN DEL RIO WITH KDLK, KALLINGER AND HIS FAMILY MOVED TO LOUISIANA BEFORE RETURNING TO DEL RIO IN 1948 FOR A DISC JOCKEY POSITION WITH XERF. KALLINGER PLAYED HILLBILLY AND BLUEGRASS MUSIC AND PROMOTED VARIOUS PRODUCTS ON AIR. HE RECEIVED SEVERAL AWARDS INCLUDING INDUCTION INTO THE TEXAS COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME AND THE COUNTRY MUSIC DISC JOCKEY HALL OF FAME. KALLINGER IS REMEMBERED AS A NATIONALLY-FAMOUS DISC JOCKEY AND "YOUR GOOD NEIGHBOR ALONG THE WAY." (2012)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• San Felipe Creek — 1.0 mi
  The spring-fed creek that made Del Rio, rising from the third largest springs in Texas and running past swimming holes and a hike-and-bike trail through town.
• Whitehead Memorial Museum — 1.2 mi
  A village of old Del Rio buildings set along a working irrigation canal, from an 1870 store to a 1925 doctor's office, with Judge Roy Bean buried on the grounds.
• Val Verde Winery — 1.7 mi
  The family winery an Italian immigrant founded on Del Rio's irrigated land in 1883, which outlasted Prohibition by selling table grapes and kept Texas wine alive into the 1970s.
• Amistad National Recreation Area — 8.4 mi
  The American side of the reservoir the United States and Mexico finished in 1969 where three rivers meet, with painted shelters still reachable by boat when the water allows.

More markers nearby

• Operation Brass Knob — steps away
• The Carter Family in Del Rio — steps away
• Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church — 0.2 mi
• First Baptist Church of Del Rio — 0.4 mi