Atascadero Printery

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

The Atascadero Printery is a building at 6351 Olmeda in Atascadero, San Luis Obispo County, built in 1915 and 1916 in the Italian Renaissance style. Walter D. Bliss was architect, with the Olmstead Brothers, John J. Roth and Myron Hunt also named as architects, and C.B. Wing as engineer.

Why it's listed

It was listed in the National Register under criterion A, with local-level significance in commerce, exploration/settlement and community planning and development. The nomination gives its period of significance as 1916 to 1924, when the building served as the colony's printing plant.

Physical character

The four-story building stands on a concrete foundation under a hipped, asphalt-covered roof, with brick pilasters, a terra cotta beltcourse, Doric columns and a Roman arch. A single-story, hip-roofed annex was added in 1917, a 1920 extension toward the rail spur housed the mailing department, and murals reportedly by Ralph Holmes were in place by 1919.

Historical context

The Printery served as the colony's printing plant from 1915 to 1924, publishing the Atascadero News from January 1916 and the Illustrated Review from that September. Edward Gardner Lewis went bankrupt by 1924, with about 11,000 claims totaling $13 million filed against him, and the Printery laid off its staff in May 1924.