KHAR signed on the air on January 7, 1961; 63 years ago (1961-01-07). It was founded by Willis "Bill" Harpel, who previously worked at KFQD and owned stations in Washington state. He founded Sourdough Broadcasters, and later launched 104.1 KHAR-FM (now KBRJ) and KHAR-TV 13 (now KYUR). The station's call sign included the first three letters of Harpel's last name. Harpel died accidentally in January 1968. His family, particularly widow Patricia and son Craig, continued to run Sourdough Broadcasters for several more decades.

During its earlier decades, KHAR, like many AM stations, aired a general format, including music and news. Notable aspects of early programming included broadcasting messages to Bush residents, a practice once fairly common among broadcasters in Alaska. The station was also noted for carrying the commentaries of Ruben Gaines, a onetime poet laureate of Alaska known for creating the character "Chilkoot Charlie".

KHAR programmed an adult standards format from the 1970s until 2013. The station's branding, Heart Radio 59, was also featured for decades. KHAR was one of only a few commercial stations in Alaska whose format more or less remained intact during the era of broadcasting company consolidation which began in the 1990s. KHAR was one of a number of Anchorage stations acquired by Morris Communications. It shares studios with its sister stations in the Morris Alaska building near the Dimond Center.

On May 1, 2013, KHAR changed its format from adult standards to all-sports. It carried programming from CBS Sports Radio.^[4] Morris Communications sold KHAR and 32 other stations to Alpha Media LLC effective September 1, 2015, at a purchase price of $38.25 million.

On April 1, 2024, the station flipped back to soft oldies and adult standards as "Gold Rush Radio". The format is described as carrying four decades of the greatest hits of all time, including a "blend of the best pop, soft AC and easy listening.”^[5] The format, from Westwood One's "America's Best Music" service, does not have DJs.<ref>

KHAR is also broadcast on the following FM translator:

• List of radio stations in Alaska

• FCC History Cards for KHAR
• Official website
• KHAR in the FCC AM station database
• KHAR in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
• K244EG in the FCC FM station database
• K244EG at FCCdata.org

61°07′12″N 149°53′43″W / 61.12000°N 149.89528°W / 61.12000; -149.89528