My name is Phil Kitchens and I was first licensed July 6, 1954.
W4HGH is located in Lanett, Alabama and has been a licensed amateur radio station for 50 years. I received my first license, WN4HGH, on the 6th of July, 1954. Lanett is located right on the Alabama/Georgia line half way between Montgomery, AL and Atlanta, GA. Before I-85 was built, US 29 went right through West Point, GA. I told others who did not know where Lanett, AL was located, that there was a sign in West Point saying that Atlanta, GA was 84 miles NorthEast and Montgomery, AL was 84 miles SouthWest. I also told them to lay a straight edge between Atlanta and Montgomery and bisect it and you will be right over Lanett, AL. West Point, GA is less than 1 mile from my QTH. They have been called twin cities as far back as I can remember.
West Point, GA is home to WestPoint Stevens, Inc. the nation's third largest textile manufacturing company. Several textile plants are located in what is known as the Chattahoochee Valley, Lanett, Shawmut, Langdale, Fairfax and Riverview, in Alabama. In 1938 the US Congress voted to allow the Valley area to go on Eastern Standard Time. That remains in effect until this day.
