For most of the 20th century, it provided ship to shore communications including telegrams (using Morse code) and marine telex service (using radioteletype).

The station dates back to the dawn of the radio era in the early years of the twentieth century when it began operations at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California, using the callsign "PH".

Forced out by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, the station moved from one temporary site to another until it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and relocated to Marin County.

In the 1930s, landline teleprinter operation was adapted for radio use (radioteletype or "RTTY") which allowed for faster, more efficient messaging.

Over the years radioteletype was improved and computerized, giving rise to new digital transmission modes such as Clover and PACTOR.

KPH is located within the Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, California, north of San Francisco Bay.

Second, the real estate taken up by buildings and antenna farms, while desirable, was also unsuitable for resale (especially to the extent that it lay within the Point Reyes National Seashore), meaning that the properties were not bought and redeveloped the way some other stations were.