Atascadero

by S.W. Martin

Overview

Atascadero, California—located nearly halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on US Highway 101—is the brainchild of E.G. Lewis. Thought by some to have been a visionary, Lewis was considered a con artist by others. In spite of his reputation, he founded Atascadero and left in his wake a collection of unique architecture and the first planned community in the state of California. He established roads, water mains, power grids, agricultural cooperatives, and a 17-mile road to the Pacific Ocean. Atascadero was home to an early example of an enclosed shopping mall and magnificent art from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Atascadero's creator also founded University City, Missouri, and Palos Verdes Estates, California.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738589169
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	01/23/2012
Series:	Images of America Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

S.W. Martin is a journalist, writer, and marketing consultant who grew up in the Atascadero of the 1950s and 1960s. He now returns to his childhood home to elucidate the city's unique genesis and colorful past using photographs gleaned from public and private sources just in time for the community's 100th anniversary. This is Atascadero, California, E.G. Lewis's proposed utopia, designed to be a community where country charm and urban amenities could peacefully coexist.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 6

Introduction 7

1 E.G. Lewis 9

2 Tent City 31

3 Commerce in Utopia 55

4 Atascadero Administration Building 87

5 The Cloisters 99

6 The Bacchantes 107

7 Atascadero Lake Park and Zoo 109

8 Highway 101 113

9 Atascadero Speedway 117

10 The Man, the Colony, the Vision 123