As the Great Depression hit the United States, Fairbanks bucked the poor economic trend. Thanks to the Alaska Railroad, large gold dredges could be brought in, and these returned the area's gold mines to profitability. In 1938, Lathrop took advantage of the good economic situation by reviving the "Alaska Miner" as a weekly supplement to the "News-Miner". The "Miner" covered happenings in the gold-mining camps outside Fairbanks and was focused on areas outside the city. In 1939, Fairbanks radio station KFAR was founded, and it shared the Lathrop building with the "News-Miner", which occupied the bottom floors of the building.