Columbia Island (New York)
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Long Island Sound |
| Coordinates | 40°52′38″N 73°45′44″W / 40.877322°N 73.762354°W |
| Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
| Administration | |
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United States
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| State | New York |
| County | Westchester |
| City | New Rochelle |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
| Pop. density | 0 /km2 (0 /sq mi) |
Columbia Island (formerly Little Pea Island), is an island in Long Island Sound and part of New Rochelle, New York. It is situated off the south-eastern coast of Davids' Island, immediately adjacent to Pea Island. The island varies in size from about one acre to 175 square feet depending on the tide.
It was once owned by the Iselin family who sold it to the Huguenot Yacht Club along with Pea Island in 1936. Three years later the club sold Little Pea Island to CBS, which renamed it "Columbia". As a result of engineering surveys designating the area around New Rochelle and Port Washington on Long Island Sound as the ideal locality for a radio transmitter to serve the metropolitan New York area, new stations were constructed on these sites by both Columbia ("CBS") and National ("NBC") broadcasting systems in 1940. CBS purchased the island as the site for a new broadcast antenna tower for WCBS-AM (then known by the call sign WABC).
CBS spent approximately $500,000 to construct the transmitter building with emergency housing for ten workers, and the 410 foot (125 m) broadcast tower. The station contained a 50,000-watt transmitter housed in a 75-square-foot (7.0 m2) copper-walled building. There also was a 5,000-watt transmitter unit for emergency use. Electric power was supplied through two submarine cables, which were connected to separate power plants to prevent interruption of service. Emergency generators were installed on the island for protection against power failure. The men who operated the station lived within a grounded metal shell under which were living quarters for engineers, workshops, electrical units that supplied tube voltages, and the backup generator. The transmitter remained in operation until 1963 when it became obsolete, and the station was moved to nearby High Island.
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