Atascadero Historical Society

The City of Atascadero is a community located halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on Highway 101, about 225 miles (362 km) from each city. Atascadero is situated within an oak woodland off Highway 101 twenty miles (32 km) north of San Luis Obispo and 10 miles (16 km) south of Paso Robles. Nearby CA Highways 41 and 46 provide easy access to the Pacific Coast and the Central Valley of California. Read the rest of this entry »

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Nearly a century ago, Edward Gardner Lewis looked across a vast plain bordered by mountain peaks and ocean waves and saw a city.
“Atascadero was a cow pasture,” said Atascadero printer Mike Lucas. “This fellow was a true visionary who took a cow pasture and turned it into a town.”A new book by former Atascadero News editor Lon Allan looks at Lewis and his legacy.”Atascadero: The vision of one-The work of many” follows the history of Atascadero from 1776, when Juan Bautista de Anza and his men made camp on an oak-covered plain called “La Asuncion,” to the summer of 1979, when Atascadero achieved cityhood. Read the rest of this entry »

by L. W. Allan, 2008.

Chronicles more than 100 years of Atascadero history, from when the deAnza Party camped along the Salinas River in March of 1776 to the summer of 1979 when voters approved cityhood. Read the rest of this entry »

by Marguerite A. Travis

Dedicated to
Edward Gardner Lewis
With thanks to Mrs. Mabelle Frandsen, Dr. Alice Reinholt, and Mrs. Grace Clemence for their assistance in editing and revising this story. Digital Transcription by Donna Shinoda
October 2005

CHAPTER I

FROM DREAM TO REALITY 1913

Once upon a time, nearly fifty years ago, a young man dreamed a dream, saw a vision, did a lot of wishful thinking that one day bore fruit in action; and the dream became a reality. Read the rest of this entry »

STORY ATTRIBUTED TO E. G. LEWIS
WHEN IN 1910 THE ITALIAN AMBASSADOR PRESENTED TO MRS. LEWIS AND ME THE GRAND PRIZE OF EUROPE WITH GOLD MEDAL FOR THE BEST PORCELAIN EXHIBITED AT THE TURIN ITALY FAIR, HE JOKINGLY REMARKED THAT IF THE SOUTH AFRICANS HAD CAPTURED THE HIGHEST AWARD FOR MAKING FINE SHOES, IT WOULD NOT HAVE SURPRISED THE ITALIANS MORE THAN WHEN A SMALL TOWN IN AMERICA TOOK THE HIGHEST AWARD FOR HIGH-FIRE PORCELAINS AWAY FROM ALL OF THE GREAT PORCELAIN WORKS IN EUROPE.
THE HISTORY OF THE PORCELAIN WORKS OF UNIVERSITY CITY, Read the rest of this entry »

 By Lon Allan

As I look at the history of Atascadero, I often run up against some surprises.
The most recent is the fact that electricity to most of the Colony didn’t arrive until three years after houses were being built.E. G. Lewis purchased the 23,000-acre cattle ranch in 1913 but didn’t permit the construction of homes until 1915. He was building his civic center, which included the City Administration Building, Printery, Grammar School and Mercantile Building. Read the rest of this entry »

In 1914, during the construction period, a tent city was built on the bench of land east of Headquarters House. This tent city was a complete community with accommodations for 1,000 guests, and an assembly tent, grocery store, dry goods store, post office, land sales offices, laundry tents and a fleet of twenty seven automobiles to serve the guests.

The purchase of five certificates entitled the purchaser, wherever he lived, to a round trip railroad fare to the Colony and a week’s stay in Tent City. During this week the visitor might drive through the Colony and select his home site and property. Read the rest of this entry »

(Rev. Loken)

Rejoice with me. I have found my sheep.

Would it not be a great occasion if, for once in our lives, we could forget our disappointments and our complaints, and give ourselves completely, with all that is within us, to a day of whole-hearted thanksgiving? Read the rest of this entry »