Institution

Homes constructed in the colony from 1915-1924 are referred to as colony homes. This time period was chosen because it starts with the first homes and ends about the time the Colony Holding Corporation went bankrupt. The colony homes provide a reminder of E.G Lewis’ idea of a utopian society. Most colony homes reside on Atascadero side streets. Many different styles of homes were built in the colony. There were simple bungalows to Craftsman style homes, as well as some elaborate mansions. Atascadero Historical society member Lydia Schweich began locating colony homes so tabs could be kept on the historical locations. After her death, others in the society kept records up to date on the houses. &nbsp;Backstory NarrativeEdward Gardner Lewis purchased 23,000 acres of rolling hills from J.H. Henry in the Spring of 1913. &nbsp;The Atascadero Colony was created by Lewis who formed the Colony Holding Corporation to take care of promoting the Atascadero enterprise. &nbsp;It was referred to as a “dream city”. His motto was, “all the advantages of country life with city conveniences”. <div> </div>

The address of this was formally 7965 El Camino Real. This house was originally owned by Miss H.G Moore. The lot is .34 acres and the lot cost $750. The cost of the house was $4,300. Housing was hard to secure during WWII due to the build up of Camp Roberts located north of Paso Robles.  For this reason, many soldiers opted for housing in Atascadero. Brigadier General Jonathan Jackson Christian was one such person who sought refuge in Atascadero during this time. General Christian was in command of the field artillery at Camp Roberts, he would later become the base commander. He rented the house at 7905 El Camino for a short time during 1941 before he would receive base housing. General Jackson Christian was the grandson of famous Civil war general Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. The house had been a real estate office and the building is now occupied by a children's daycare center.  

General Jonathan Jackson Christian Colony House

The City of Atascadero was founded in 1913 by Edward Gardner Lewis. His plan was to create a model community in his image. Lewis' plan was to create a civic center mall based on that of Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. He wanted the school to sit above the civic center on a hill, now called high school hill, because in Lewis' mind, education should be above all else. During the early years, many "colony houses" were built by newcomers to Atascadero. This tour outlines some historic Civic Center buildings, the old Atascadero Train Depot Location, as well as a few prominent colony houses.

The city of Atascadero Administration Building is located on the block of 6500 Palma Avenue in its original location. The site is in the center of the original civic center that was designed by E.G Lewis. Walter Danforth Bliss (1874-1956) was the Commissioner of Architecture for the Colony of Atascadero. The Administration Building is designed with a Greek cross plan. In the middle of the cross are two rotundas, one above the other and are 100 feet in height. The domes of the rotunda have a coffered design. The dome of the building is tile. There are three floors of offices around the lower rotunda. The building has a total floor area of 48,942 square feet. The building is constructed from reinforced concrete and faced with terracotta brick. According to W.D Bliss, the overall design of the building is in the design of the Italian Renaissance. The Administration Building was used as the chamber of commerce during the colony period. Other uses during this time included a bank, headquarters of of the water company, post office, real estate office, and other civic functions. After E.G Lewis was forced into bankruptcy, the new trustees sold the building. &nbsp;The building is currently being used as the Atascadero city hall and access to the public is allowed. The city hall gives guided tours of the historic building a few times a month. In 1928 - 1933 Frank Moran purchased the Administration Building &nbsp;for use as the California Campus for Moran Prep and Junior College. He also bought the Printery and hospital to use for his school. The Administration Building was used for the Junior College while the prep school was housed in the printery. The Miramonte School and Junior college occupied the building following the Moran school. The school was incorporated in 1935 but failed and was repossessed in the early 1940’s. Colonel Benjamin Aldrich bought the building and used it for the Acheson Polytechnic College. After his death, San Luis Obispo county bought the building in 1951 and used if for the veterans memorial building. In 1980, SLO county gave the building back to the newly formed City of Atascadero to be used for its city hall building. In 2003, the San Simeon earthquake forced the building to close. It was completely renovated and is now operating as the city hall building once again.&nbsp;<div>Backstory Narrative </div>Edward Gardner Lewis purchased 23,000 acres of rolling hills from J.H. Henry in the Spring of 1913. &nbsp;The Atascadero Colony was created by Lewis who formed the Colony Holding Corporation to take care of promoting the Atascadero enterprise. &nbsp;It was referred to as a “dream city”. His motto was, “all the advantages of country life with city conveniences”. The Atascadero Administration Building was completed in 1918 at the cost of approximately $200,000.&nbsp;<div> </div>

The civic center in the Colony of Atascadero was the idea of Edward Gardner Lewis. The civic center was part of Lewis’ model community, and would serve as the central hub for all the residents of Atascadero. Lewis was so proud of his civic center, he even gave thought to the railroad passengers that were passing through his town by giving them a clear view of the buildings as soon as they departed the rail station. And the centerpiece of the view was the Administration Building. Construction of the Administration Building began in June of 1914 and was completed in June of 1918. The building was used for many things but served as the Chamber of Commerce, offices of the Governor of the Colony, and the general manager of the real estate office.  

Atascadero Administration Building

The building is located on the corner of Olmeda Avenue and West Mall in its original location. The site is located in close proximity to the Administration Building two blocks down Olmeda Avenue. Walter Danforth Bliss (1874-1956) was in the role of Commissioner of Architecture for the Atascadero Colony. &nbsp;Bliss is also listed as the architect, builder on the Registration Form of the application for listing in the National Register of Historic Places for the Printery.The Printery building is designed with an Italian Renaissance Revival style of architecture. &nbsp;The large two-story rectangular building has a medium hipped roof. The centrally-placed main entrance is in the south side and is dominated by a Roman arch supported on two simple Doric columnns. &nbsp;The arch is ornamented with elaborate terra cotta. The recessed doorway is accessed by a short flight of steps. A prominent terra cotta belt course divides the upper and lower stories. The windows are separated by brick pilasters with simple terracotta capitals. The foundation is concrete and the roof is asphalt according to the National Register Registration Form written about this structure. &nbsp;An adjoining single-story hip roofed annex building was added for extra space at the rear in 1917 that contained the bindery and stock room. &nbsp;Additionally, at the rear of the 1917 annex is a non-historic addition made of concrete and clad on one elevation in wood siding. The Printery was served directly by a spur of the Southern Pacific railroad that accommodated the large volume of incoming newsprint and outgoing products. &nbsp;Elaborate murals of local scenery are located in the Printery building lobby and depict stylized oak trees on a pastel background. They were in place by 1919 and were painted by Ralph William Holmes. The Printery was used to print the original Atascadero News which was the only means of information available within the Colony. The first issue of the Atascadero News was published in January of 1916. The building was advertised as being fireproof and full of the most modern printing equipment available at the time. &nbsp;It was described as being “the finest printing press west of the Mississippi River”. The building is now privately owned by the Atascadero Printery Foundation and is currently not open to the public. In 1928 - 1933 Frank Moran purchased the Printery for use as the California Campus for Moran Prep and Junior College. &nbsp;It then became Miramonte followed by Amerivet Academy. In 1950, the Masonic organization purchased the building. After the San Simeon earthquake in 2003, the building’s structure was at risk and became a property of the city of Atascadero because of back taxes owed. &nbsp;The building itself, was bought at auction in 2017 by the Atascadero Printery Foundation, who has hopes of renovating the building. Backstory NarrativeEdward Gardner Lewis purchased 23,000 acres of rolling hills from J.H. Henry in the Spring of 1913. &nbsp;The Atascadero Colony was created by Lewis who formed the Colony Holding Corporation to take care of promoting the Atascadero enterprise. &nbsp;It was referred to as a “dream city”. His motto was, “all the advantages of country life with city conveniences”. The Atascadero Printery was the first civic building completed in 1915. The original cost of the brick building was $34,000. &nbsp;The Atascadero News and later, the Illustrated Review were both printed in this building. &nbsp;The Printery’s early completion was because it produced income and helped to finance the operations of the community from the sale and distribution of the newspaper, thus ultimately funding the Colony Holding Corporation ventures. &nbsp;<div> </div>

Early settlement of Atascadero is because of the real estate venture master planned by Edward Gardner Lewis.  He laid out a “model community”referred to as the Colony with residential buildings in one area and a series of civic buildings planned for another area.  The streets were laid out and completed in a curvilinear plan and two of the civic buildings were actually built. The Atascadero Printery, also known by other names the Review Building or the Atascadero Press, was one of E.G Lewis’ civic center buildings. It was being constructed alongside the Administration Building. It was built in 1915 and was the first building in E.G. Lewis’ civic center to be completed.  The Printery shared common design elements to the Administration Building.  


Atascadero Printery Building

The buildings grand opening was March 3, 1917. Some of the businesses located in the building included a Grocery store, A hats and caps store, a jewelry store, a men's clothing store, a music store, an optometrist, and a billiards hall are just some of the shops in the building. La Plaza operated for a number of years providing goods to the colony. Business began to slow because of the creation of the state highway (El Camino Real today). Multiple businesses popped up along the route and Lewis was forced into involuntary bankruptcy in 1925. Seattle attorney Oscar Willett was appointed to oversee the bankruptcy proceedings. Willett sold all of the downtown buildings. Willett formed the Atascadero Development Syndicate and began clearing up the debt that had accumulated against Lewis. The ADS sold the La Plaza building to Fred Bartholomew of Los Angeles. He took a 15 year lease promising to pay $165,000 over the 15 year period. Bartholomew turned the building into the Atascadero Inn. The remodel cost $50,000 which included upgrading the existing rooms, creating a coffee shop, and a new dining room. By 1928, the Inn was prospering. On the morning of September 13, 1934, a fire broke out and completely destroyed the building. The flames could be seen for miles and a crowd gathered to watch the fire, even though it started at 2 a.m. All of the guests at the Inn made it out safely and onlookers helped the guests carry their belongings. The property the Mercantile/Inn stood on would be bought by the Atascadero School District in the 1960’s. Today, the Atascadero fine Arts Academy stands where the La Plaza building once stood. All that remains of the building are some steps, a fountain, and a rock retaining wall.Backstory NarrativeEdward Gardner Lewis purchased 23,000 acres of rolling hills from J.H. Henry in the Spring of 1913. The Atascadero Colony was created by Lewis who formed the Colony Holding Corporation to take care of promoting the Atascadero enterprise. It was referred to as a “dream city”. His motto was, “all the advantages of country life with city conveniences”. The La Plaza building was used as the first shopping center until E.G Lewis was forced into bankruptcy.

The E.G Lewis civic center consisted of four prominent buildings. The City Administration Building, the Atascadero Grammar school (old printery building), and the Mercantile, which would later be known as the La Plaza building. Only the Printery and Administration building are left standing today. The mercantile acted as Atascadero shopping center. All businesses were contained within this building with parking for two hundred cars located outside. The electricity for the building ecen came from an underground line, a practice now required for commercial buildings. The building was 100 feet wide by 200 feet in length. The ceilings of the building were 12 feet in height. The Southern Pacific railroad ran close to the building so a spur track was used to deliver goods to the building. The track came right to the back door of the building. The La Plaza building had a 42,000 square feet floor plan. The building require 14 tons of reinforced steel, 1,400 cubic yards of gravel, 1,400 barrels of cement, 480,000 board feet of lumber, and 600 square feet of glass.

La Plaza Mercantile/ Atascadero Inn

After the depot had been completed, a route from the town needed to be completed so passengers could access the station. A bridge was built across Atascadero creek so the station could be accessed at its location on Capistrano avenue. The bridge was built in 1921 and is still in use today. Unfortunately, Lewis’ idea of having the rail station visible from the civic center did not come to fruition. A writer from the Atascadero News wrote “There is no telling what Atascadero has lost through not having an attractive railroad station within sight of the civic center. Many who had planned to stop here changed their minds seeing no evidence of a town…” Financing of the station was the original reason S.P had not built a station before. Eventually Lewis and S.P reached a financing agreement that suited both parties. S.P had originally promised the depot by Christmas of 1921, but delays in finding a contractor meant that W.D Jones of Berkley was awarded the contract in October. The actual construction of the building began in November 1921 with the grand opening occuring in May of 1922. More than 2,000 people attend the opening ceremony. The station was in use for four decades and was even featured in a Southern Pacific film promoting travel in California. After air travel began to railroads in the late 40s and early 50s, Southern Pacific began using the depot for freight instead of passengers. A number of local citizens wanted to purchase the building but S.P had too much concern for injuries with the building being so close to the mainline of the railroad. In 1964, Albert Mazzei of Garden Farms purchased the building for $75 if he would demolish it and take away the bebris. The station was torn down before almost any citizens realized what was happening. &nbsp; Backstory NarrativeEdward Gardner Lewis purchased 23,000 acres of rolling hills from J.H. Henry in the Spring of 1913. &nbsp;The Atascadero Colony was created by Lewis who formed the Colony Holding Corporation to take care of promoting the Atascadero enterprise. &nbsp;It was referred to as a “dream city”. His motto was, “all the advantages of country life with city conveniences”. The rail depot hoped to put Atascadero on the map but did not bring in the travelers that E.G Lewis had originally hoped for. &nbsp;<div> </div>

E.G Lewis had been trying to get the Southern Pacific Railroad Company to build a passenger/freight depot in Atascadero for years. Lewis had built a small rail depot close to the Curbaril Road rail crossing. This “depot” only had one small building where passengers could wait to remain out of the elements. As Atascadero grew, Lewis knew he needed a larger rail depot. Lewis was trying to get the S.P.R.R to build the depot voluntarily with no luck. In 1921, the Atascadero Chamber of Commerce penned a letter to the railroad commissioner asking that Southern Pacific build and maintain a suitable depot for the community. The Chamber’s argument was  that Atascadero had transformed from “one family of six persons to a town of over 400 private homes costing $1.2 million and that the cattle ranch had been converted into a fruit region with 4,000 acres of trees…”  In 1921, Southern Pacific granted the community a rail depot. The station was completed in May of 1922 at the cost of $35,000. It was constructed in the Italian renaissance style. Southern Pacific removed the station from Service in the late 1950s and it was torn down in 1964. The station's location was nearly directly under the Highway 41 bridge in Atascadero. 

Atascadero Rail Depot

The colony house at 5540 was originally owned and occupied by a Mrs. Delia Holden. The house was originally built in February of 1917. In 1917, Mrs. Holden paid $1,000 for the .56 acre lot and $10,000 for the construction of the house. Mrs. Holden owned the old Estrada tract which would become The Lakes, the present day housing development in this area. This property was the last owned by Pedro Estrada, the original owner of the Mexican Land grant known as Rancho Atascadero. During this time it was rare for single women to be able to afford houses at the time. The Decou family bought the home in the 50’s and have lived there ever sence. Jay Decou owned the now out of business Decou Lumber Company on the Corner of El Camino Real and La Linia Avenue. 

Deila Holden Colony House

The house at 6700 Atascadero Avenue was originally built in June of 1915 at the cost of $4,500. The Original owner was Marguerite A. Travis. Travis had moved herself and her son to Atascadero from back east.  Her five year old son, Ferdinand Travis, was the first child to be baptised in the newly founded Federated Church. He was baptised September 9, 1916. In the ceremony, a small loving cup was used which had been given to Ferdinand as a present by his father. Miss Travis had been widowed when her husband, a minister, perished in a boating accident on his way to New York to attend the opening of a new church. This is why Miss Travis moved herself and her son to Atascadero. Travis wrote the book "The Birth of Atascadero" in the 1950s describing the early creation of the Colony. Ownership of a house by a single woman was very rare in the colony and only a handful of of single women were able to accomplish this. 

Historic Atascadero Tour

General Jonathan Jackson Christian Colony House

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources