Famous faces that have called 918 Ohio home

Terre Haute, Ind. (WTHI) - You may have heard that WTHI TV is relocating soon to a new, state of the art facility in the near future.

The new building will be modern and updated, but that still doesn’t take away from the majesty and history this building at 918 Ohio St. has.

This old building is worn out, but in some ways, remains a monument to broadcast television, to the Wabash Valley and to America, and a testament to the hard working American dream.

Dozens of people, who have been employed by WTHI through the years, have gone on to television greatness.

So, before the major transition from old to new, News 10 has decided to take a stroll down memory lane of some of the local celebrities you may remember from WTHI’s past.

This old building became a television station in 1954 .

That’s when the well known, Tony Hulman, brought WTHI into fruition, and put News 10 on the air.

Even he could not have imagined the people who would frequent this building in the next 58 years.

The first, starting from the beginning, is George Martin .

Martin was the very first news anchor at News 10.

The next to have had the privilege to call WTHI home is Howard Caldwell.

Caldwell left News 10 and continued his career at WRTV in Indianapolis, and became the dean of Indy newscasters over the years.

The next is Harry Frey , who continued on to become the dean of Terre Haute broadcasters.

Harry Read made viewers feel as if they were right there with him.

Dave Kirk was Read’s weatherman.

When Dave mentioned your town, you knew you were part of the WTHI family.

Wayne Jenkins brought breaking news right to your living room, and the weather too.

Jenkins went on to be a big part of the Network Indiana for years.

Betty Chadwick became the first female news photographer in our nation in 1958, which started right here at News 10.

She became so famous, she made appearances on national game shows, and puzzled contestants who attempted to guess her occupation.

Bob Forbes was a sports anchor here; but his major accomplishment was becoming a part of the famed Indy 500 race coverage team.

Jerry Van Dyke had his own show on WTHI, where he fine tuned his routine that led to Hollywood stardom in movies and dozens of television shows like, The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Coach Bill Weber was a sports commentator, whose most well known for his work on TNT and NBC NASCAR.

Joe Benti worked as a reporter for News 10, and went on to anchor the CBS midday news for over three years.

John Barr worked at WTHI as a reporter, now he reports sports all over the world for ESPN.

Mike King was a sports director at News 10, and continued on to become for voice of the Indianapolis 500.

Liam McHugh now works for NBC sports.

Jack Haynes was a WTHI personality better known at Captain Jack.

Cheryl Lemke was a weather caster at Channel 10, and is now works for the Weather Channel.

David Goodnow was a news anchor at WTHI, and later became one of the first news anchors at CNN.

Finally, there’s Phil Jones , who started at WTHI as a news reporter, and later became a White House correspondent for CBS News.

Since 1954, dozens have started their broadcasting careers here at the little old building at 918 Ohio St., and continued on to fame and fortune.

This old building is crumbling now, a shadow of its former self.

But if these walls could even whisper its history, the words could write a book on American Broadcast History.