The Printery History

Atascadero’s Printery has been in this location since it opened its doors for business early in 1916. The road in front of the building is Olmeda Ave. Notice the railroad spur track on the north end of building.

Pine Mountain is in the background

The Printery First of E.G. Lewis’ civic center buildings to be completed The Printery building on Olmeda Avenue was the first to be completed by Atascadero’s founder, E.G. Lewis. Lewis was a promoter of many things, from residential development to a number of business projects both in the east and our west in California. He needed a press at his disposal to let his followers know his next scheme.

The first publication to come out of the new building was the Atascadero News, which made its debut on January 2, 1916.

Although he began construction on the City Administration Building first (1914) it (The Printery) was actually the first of the civic center buildings completed and was ready for use late in 1915. The large brick structure still stands at the corner of Olmeda Avenue and West Mall. The Close up of front entrance to The Printery. building was originally owned by the Woman’s

Institute, Holmes was known as a muralist Publishing Company, which Mr. Lewis started even before his arrival in Atascadero. He evenin University City, MO. There he published the tually managed the Cloisters on Atascadero Beach in Morro Bay for Lewis’ Colony HoldWoman’s National Magazine, the Woman’s ing Corporation. Holmes himself described the National Weekly and advertising brochures murals in the Printery as something to separate called “Bulletins.” the building from its industrial roots. A visitThe main brick building you see today ing journalist said of Holmes’ work, “Nowhere was quickly built in America is for a total cost of there anything “...largest rotogravure press com$34,000, not inmore beautiful cluding equipment. plex west of the Mississippi River than the entrance Within a very short to Atascadero’s time The Printery complex was expanded by a Press Building — the entrance where an artlarge stucco building that ran next to the main ist’s power of painting dreams in tuneful color brick structure. There was also a long corrusings its symphonic theme in your heart until gated metal shed used to store newsprint. And you forget the importance of even The Illusthere was also a smaller tin shed used to store trated Review. ink. The entire printing facility cost a total of The largest rotogravure press complex $250,000, including the machinery and furwest of the Mississippi River was installed in nishings, according to records maintained by the Atascadero plant. It was also the first rotothe Atascadero Historical Society. gravure press on the west coast. The last issue Artist Ralph Holmes, who was brought to of the Woman’s National Weekly was pubAtascadero by Lewis to head up the art depart- lished in Atascadero in 1916. ment, painted the murals on the entrance to the The first issue of the Atascadero News Printery. Although faded, those murals remain was printed in the building in January, 1916, there even today. Formerly of the Chicago Art and the premier issue of The Illustrated Review

This picture of The Printery was taken from the top of the unfinished City Administration Building in November, 1915.

There was always a beehive of activity in Lewis’ printing plant here in Atascadero.

was printed in September of that same year. extended to the Review. The first subscription Lewis had hoped that The Illustrated Review price was 10 cents a year for this photo magawould eventually have a circulation of more zine. Eventually the subscription price was inthan three million copies by the end of 1917. creased to $1 a year in 1919. Circulation neared In reality, the circulation never quite reached one million copies by 1917. You could buy The one million copies, but that is still a large Illustrated Review on newsstands in New York circulation for any periodical of its time.

City. Pictures of World War I filled the many The Illustrated Review was somewhat a pages of the magazine. Circulation of The Illusforerunner of the “Life Magazine” in that it trated Review began to drop in the early 1920s was long on pictures and short on text. The and publication ended in 1924.

Review carried Toward the end pictures from Lewis converted The around the Illustrated Review world. into a 16-page tabloidE.G. sized newspaper and Lewis’ brother, changed the name to George B. the California IllusLewis, was trated Review, and manager of The then finally the AtasPrintery. The cadero Illustrated Reentire plant had view. “It is entirely about 125 peodevoted to picturing Here’s The Printery in more modern times. ple working California as it is,” there to produce the numerous publications.

Atascadero’s founder wrote in one of his periThe Illustrated Review began with an odic Bulletins, adding that, “a staff of photograexisting mailing list that Lewis brought with phers, headed by J.L. Padilla, is constantly enhim from University City, MO. gaged in taking special photographs of CaliforPre-paid subscriptions to the by then nia life, features, places and things of interest.” out-of-print Woman’s National Weekly were By 1923 a yearly subscription cost $1 and a life

Another early view of The Printery in about 1915 looking east. Dirt road leading to the building is West Mall.

had his office located here. subscription $10. By that time the circulation The first press run for the Atascadero was 30,000 “life” subscribers.

Atascadero News and The Illustrated ReNews in January, 1916 was 100,000 copies.

In May, 1924, there was a massive layview weren’t the only publications printed in off of Printery employees. Seven were kept The Printery. on to print the Atascadero News, which had For two years the Sunday rotogravure supplement to the San Francisco Chronicle was produced in the Atascadero plant. The supplement was entirely designed, etched and printed locally. A rotogravure magazine was also published for the Los Angles Sunday Times in Atascadero.

The bindery department produced the large ledgers for San Luis Obispo County and the Colony Holding Corporation.

Even the blank pages were line ruled using a large machine in The Printery.

Other outside printing included color covers for Sunset Magazine, many advertising brochures and the packaging for the Pumpkin Flour Company, another Atascadero business.

Upstairs in the building were the offices for management, photo filing and circulation. All the mailing labels, which were stamped on metal plates, were produced upstairs.

Press starts up for another printing of The Illustrated Review.

George B. Lewis, manager,

The Civic Center begins to emerge by late 1915 editorial offices in a building next door to the main Printery structure.

In 1925 the newspaper was sold to Ted Bishop when Lewis was forced into involuntary receivership by a group of his creditors.

The newspaper moved to its own building in the 5600 block of El Camino Real in 1949.

By 1915 the semblance of a civic center was beginning to take shape. Here you see The Printery looking north standing in what today would be the junior high track. Off to the left, looking west, you see the City Administration Building taking nearing completion. The dome is not yet in place. The city hall building wasn’t completed until 1918.

The old Atascadero News building which was actually behind the Printery was knocked down in about 1963.

The large presses in The Printery were moved to Oakland in the mid 1920s.

The building was sold to Frank Moran of Seattle to serve as the southern satellite cam-

By 1920 The Printery was one of four civic center buildings you see pictured here.

pus for an exclusive boy’s prep school.

The Printery building was eventually used as a junior college and prep school for three different owners until it was purchased by the Masonic Temple Association in 1950 from the Colonel Benjamin Aldrich estate. In addition to serving as the meeting place for the Atascadero Masonic Lodge up into the 21st Century, the building has also housed the Atascadero Unified School District Office, and even served as a substation for the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department.

A karate school occupied the old press floor area for almost two decades while a commercial photographer worked out of the room on the southern end of the two-story building.

The space was both studio and living quarters for the photographer.

The 6.5 San Simeon Earthquake in December, 2003 brought an end to public use of the building. The end walls were weakened

and had to be shored up as a safety measure until repairs could be made.

But several years before the earthquake, in 1994, the Masonic Temple Association gave the building to the City of Atascadero on the condition the city provide youth services there. For a variety of reasons, mostly having to do with lack of finances to bring the building up to code, the city never utilized the building to the level the lodge had hoped for and eventually returned the building to the Masons in 2005.

The building was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 2004.

BELOW: Since 1915 The Printery, almost in the center of this picture, has held a prominent spot in Atascadero’s historic civic center and will no doubt be a major part of any downtown revitalization efforts.