It was until May 2022 the oldest privately owned station in the state of Connecticut, never having been sold outside the family of its founder, Harold Thomas (1902–1968).

The station has been assigned the WATR call letters by the Federal Communications Commission since it was initially licensed in 1934.

The station was also home to the "Polish Eagle Show", originated in 1934 on WATR by bandleader Victor Zembruski (1912–1976).

Zembruski, at age 17, decided to end the show as his junior year of high school concluded.

The station also maintains a decades-long tradition of broadcasting play-by-play of local high school football and basketball.