KIRO was founded by Moritz Thomsen of the Pacific Biscuit Company and began broadcasting on April 27, 1927 as the 100-watt station KPCB 650. Over the years, the Seattle KIRO broadcast station moved several times. The first location was at Fourth and University. As of 2025, the KIRO station studios are located in the Belltown neighborhood, with a transmitting tower adjacent to the station’s original studios on Queen Anne Hill.

In this photo, KIRO Radio engineers Jim Hatfield (left) and Jim Upthegrove have set up equipment at the edge of Lake Washington to report remotely on flight tests of the Boeing 314 Clipper. The Clipper was a long-range flying boat produced by the Boeing Airplane Company between 1938 and 1941, and was assembled at Boeing's Duwamish River plant. Flights tests on the 314 were run from Elliott Bay and Lake Washington in the summer of 1938.

Handwritten on verso: Jim Hatfield, Chief Eng KIRO, mike in hand, and Jim Upthegrove, Studio Ch. Eng. setting up for Remote Broadcast of Boeing Clipper Tests on edge of Lake Washington.