The station was owned by KPHP Radio, Inc. (Crawford Broadcasting Company), located in Happy Valley, Oregon.

The station was first licensed on September 21, 1925, as KTBR on 1140 kHz, to Brown's Radio Shop at 172 Tenth Street in Portland.

[2] In 1932, the station (then broadcasting on 1330 kHz with 500 watts of power) was purchased by the management of KOIN, and the call letters were changed to KALE.

On June 18, 1973, KPOK switched from oldies "The Golden Sound" to "Cross-Country" (a mixture of modern country and top hits).

On August 16, 1976, KPOK changed call letters to KUPL and switched from "Rockin' Country" to beautiful music and later to adult standards.