Completed in 1917, E.G. Lewis erected the first La Plaza building which enclosed an indoor shopping mall and served residents, not only as a place to shop, but also as a place to meet neighbors and community members. Contributed photo
Atascadero’s Forgotten Building As former hub of commerce, ‘La Plaza’ rises from the ashes of history By Megan Olshefski
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hile walking eastbound towards the intersection of Traffic Way and Olmeda Avenue, one may obliviously pass a series of steps. At the top of the steps, a plaque takes center stage, while below, a stone wall surrounds the remains of a fountain. Upon the plaque rests an image of a multistory colonnade building, suggesting the whispers of a forgotten memory. A memory named “La Plaza.” Set among the fields of a young Atascadero, La Plaza was not only the center of all economic commerce, but also a community gathering place, a hotel, and California’s first enclosed shopping center. Completed in 1917, the Mercantile, or “La Plaza” (as dubbed by a community-wide naming contest after the interchangeable street names of Traffic Way and La Plaza Boulevard), formed the Lewis Civic Center
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alongside the Printery and Administration Building- the heart of E.G. Lewis’ utopian society. In 1915, two years before the official opening of La Plaza, publications announced the forthcoming addition to the Atascadero Colony. As a publisher himself, Atascadero founder E.G. Lewis knew the power of the written word and cut no corners when it came to a young Atascadero’s advertisement. He sought experienced management for his Colony, locating the first manager for La Plaza, Mr. A.S. Thompson, in Los Angeles. In one journal (vol. 49 of Notions and Fancy Goods), E.G. Lewis instructed Mr. Thompson “…to make the Atascadero Department Store the finest and most up-to-date department store in the West, and that means anywhere.” E.G. L ewis’ vision for Atascadero was that of a cooperative community, discouraging the establishment of businesses anywhere but within La Plaza.
With operations falling under the Colony Holding Company (also led by E.G. Lewis), insurance was granted for one business per industry within the Colony, eliminating competition. This cooperative vision even led to a community decision on February 18, 1919, to grant a branch of the Pacific Co-operative League tenancy within La Plaza overseeing all food departments as the Atascadero Rochdale Store. Within La Plaza, businesses leased small stall spaces situated underneath the windows of the basement and first floors. Upstairs resided the Atascadero Inn, complete with Spanish-style beams. Supplies arrived via a railroad spur that served both the Printery and La Plaza. Shoppers to La Plaza arrived either by footpath, via horse, or in a Model-T. On the first floor, one found: the drugstore, tailor, grocer, meat market, shoe shop, furniture store, clothing and millinery shops, an electrical display depart-
ment, and the post office. In the basement: the barber, a photography shop, an additional shoe shop, the electrical workshop, a billiard hall, and the bakery. Anything from garden supplies, jewelry, clothing, food, car parts, to home decor filled the space of La Plaza. Similar to shopping around Atascadero today, one would likely run into someone they knew while at La Plaza. After a day spent buying the latest goods, lunch could be arranged with friends at the cafe on the first-floor balcony. Even the grocer advertised the lunch special in his store, “The Merchant’s Lunch,” served for a grand total of $0.35. By the late 1920s, the Colony Holding Company disbanded, allowing businesses to flock to real-estate along the heavily trafficked El Camino Real. This exodus from La Plaza allowed the Atascadero Inn to expand within the building under managing owner Fred Bartholomew. Postcards from the early 1930s called Colony Magazine | June 2020