Established in 1946 as WHOB, the station is owned by Steven Wendell and carries a talk radio format.

[1] It debuted at 1490 kHz on the AM dial, and the call letters referred to one of the station's founders, District Attorney Owen A.

[3] WHOB was originally owned by David M. Richman, a Connecticut businessman; studios were in the Colonial Hotel in Gardner.

[5] The station was sold to Emilien R. Robillard, a pharmacist, in 1954;[6] the call letters were changed to WGAW (Gardner, Athol, Winchendon) on October 14, 1953.

[9] By the early 1990s, WGAW was experiencing financial problems due to increased competition from FM stations.