Twin State Broadcasters, Inc., obtained a construction permit for a new 250-watt radio station to serve St. Johnsbury on 1340 kHz on May 25, 1949.[4] WTWN had its formal opening on July 10, 1949;[3] the original studios were built atop what had been a manure pit on a farm.[5] Two years later, it lived up to its Twin States moniker when it established a satellite studio in Littleton, New Hampshire.[6] Three years after the station began broadcasting, Don Mullally joined and eventually took over the morning shift: he would remain at the station for most of the next 64 years (with the exception of a short stint in Glens Falls, New York and a brief retirement to serve as the director of the Caledonia County fair[5]), leaving the air for good only two weeks before his death in 2016;[7] he was the last station employee still playing music off of vinyl records.[5] In 1960, WTWN was approved to upgrade from 250 to 1,000 watts.[4]
E. Dean Finney, who had been a manager and owner of the station since the outset, sold WTWN in 1979 to Northeast Kingdom Broadcasting, Inc.;[4] the sale was part of a two-station transaction that also included Finney's only other broadcast holding, WIKE in Newport, as Finney said it was "time for a change" in his life.[8] The new ownership was jointly held by Brent Lambert and Eric H. Johnson, two Boston optometrists who owned stations in California and Wyoming.[9] The new owners changed the call letters to WSTJ on October 1.[4] After Johnson bought out Lambert's stake in the company—which had been transferred to a bank—in 1993,[10] Vermont Broadcast Associates bought WSTJ and the FM station it had started in 1985—WNKV (105.5 FM)—in 1998 for $630,000.[11]
In December 2020, WSTJ launched an FM translator, W281CC (104.1 FM); while the station was still featuring an oldies/adult standards format at the time, it announced its intention to review the format after the Christmas holiday.[12] The new format launched in February 2021 as adult album alternative "The Trail", so named for the region's ski and bike trails.[13]
