Editing Atascadero, California (section)

== History ==

[[File:Wrestling Bacchantes by Aristide Petrilli - Sunken Gardens - Atascadero, CA - DSC05355.JPG|thumb|right|''Wrestling [[Bacchante]]s'' in the Sunken Gardens]]
[[File:Colony House (Atascadero Historical Society) - Atascadero, CA - DSC05382.JPG|thumb|Colony House (Atascadero Historical Society)]]

The Spanish word {{wikt-lang|es|atascadero}} loosely means "[[bog]]" or "[[mire]]",<ref>{{cite book|author=Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez|title=Spanish and Indian Place Names of California|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qxwTAAAAYAAJ|year=1914|publisher=Robertson|page=354|isbn=9781404750845|quote= ''Atascadero'' (bog-mire)}}</ref> from the verb {{wikt-lang|es|atascar}}, which means "to become stuck or hindered". On the other hand, in the [[Obispeño language]], the site was named {{lang|obi|tsɨskikiye}}, which translates into a "place of much water".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sbnature.org/research/anthro/chumash/local.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401012137/http://www.sbnature.org/research/anthro/chumash/local.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 1, 2015|title=Chumash Towns at the Time of European Settlement |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=November 1, 2018}}</ref>

The area was originally home to the [[Chumash people|Chumash]] and [[Salinan]] Native Americans. Between 1769 and 1823, the Spanish Franciscans established 21 missions along the California coast, including the nearby [[Mission San Miguel Arcángel]] and [[Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa]]. In 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain, and California became the Mexican province of Nueva California (later [[Alta California]]). In 1833, the Mexican government secularized the mission lands. Mexican governor [[Juan Bautista Alvarado|Juan Alvarado]] granted [[Rancho Atascadero]] to Trifon Garcia in 1842, and [[Pio Pico]] granted Pedro Estrada [[Rancho Asuncion]] in 1845. Patrick Washington Murphy held ownership of {{convert|61000|acre|abbr=on}} at one time.

[[Edward Gardner Lewis]], a magazine publisher from the East, founded Atascadero in 1913 as a [[utopian]], planned colony. He had previously created such a community at [[University City, Missouri]]. After purchasing the Atascadero Ranch in 1912, Lewis put together a group of investors, paid J.H. Henry {{convert|37.50|$/acre|$/ha}}, and celebrated acquisition of the ranch on July 4, 1913. As investors came to homestead the land that they had bought with their down payments, the area was transformed into a "tent city", with tents situated on land now occupied by Century Plaza and Bank of America. Lewis employed the services of experts in agriculture, engineering and city planning to develop his dream colony for the anticipated 30,000 residents. In 1914, the land was surveyed and subdivided. Beginning with the 1914 deed, sale of all land in Atascadero was restricted to only whites.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article39440277.html|title=Race debate embroils Atascadero's Historical Society|author=Paula McCambridge|publisher=San Luis Obispo Tribune|date=March 29, 2013}}</ref> Thousands of acres of orchards were planted, a water system was installed, and construction began on an {{convert|18|mi|abbr=on}} road (now Highway 41 west) through the [[Santa Lucia Mountains]] to the ocean ([[Morro Bay]]), where Lewis built cottages and a beachfront hotel called the Cloisters.

The first civic building in Atascadero, the [[Atascadero Press Building]], had the first [[rotogravure]] presses west of Chicago.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Allen |first1=Lon |title=The Printery |url=https://atascaderoprintery.org/history/allen/ |website= Atascadero Printery Foundation |access-date=April 20, 2021}}</ref> Lewis then published the [[Atascadero News]] newspaper and the Illustrated Review, a photo/news magazine. The centerpiece of Lewis' planned community was an Italian Renaissance-style building, which was the home to Atascadero City Hall and the Museum until it was damaged in the [[2003 San Simeon earthquake|2003 earthquake]]. After significant upgrades and renovations, the building was reopened in August 2013. Built between 1914 and 1918 with bricks made from local clay, this unique and beautiful building has become one of California's [[California Historical Landmarks|Historical Landmarks]] (No. 958).

Founded in 1913 by [[Edward Gardner Lewis]] and incorporated in 1979, the Atascadero Colony as it was known at the time was originally envisioned as a model community.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Atascadero Colony archive, 1904-1983.|url=https://oac.cdlib.org/search?style=oac4;Institution=California%20State%20Library::California%20History%20Room;idT=001413757|access-date=September 26, 2020|website=Online Archive of California}}</ref> Little evidence of Atascadero's original architecture and urban design remain, as historic buildings and homes have been torn down to make way for more modern developments and the Sunken Gardens bisected by [[U.S. Route 101]]. One of the few surviving examples of original urban design can be found, however, in the [[Rotunda Building]] located near the junior high school on Palma Avenue in the Sunken Gardens public park. Designed by [[Walter D. Bliss]] of [[San Francisco]], construction was completed in 1918 at a cost of $180,000. It was the headquarters for the Atascadero Colony, built of reinforced concrete and locally produced brick, it had also served as a private school for boys, a veteran's memorial building, and county offices. At [https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=6500+Palma+Ave,+Atascadero,+CA 6500 Palma Ave.], this building was purchased by San Luis Obispo County in the 1950s as a Memorial Building. The building housed the county library, Atascadero Historical Social Museum and then the city offices following incorporation in 1979. The historic city hall is adorned with a {{convert|40|ft|adj=mid}} dome atop the third story, originally intended to house the library. The building was designated a [[California Historical Landmark]]. The city hall was damaged by the magnitude 6.5 [[2003 San Simeon earthquake|San Simeon earthquake]] on the morning of December 22, 2003.

Another example of Atascadero's early architecture is the [[Carlton Hotel (Atascadero, California)|Carlton Hotel]], built in 1929, located just west of the Sunken Gardens on El Camino Real, the city's main commercial street. Vacant since 1987, the building was rejuvenated, costing an estimated $15 million and completed in 2003.

The Skytherm house was developed in Atascadero. This private home pioneered solar powered cooling and heating using an integrated rooftop water system. Solar roof ponds are unique solar heating and cooling systems developed by Harold Hay in the 1960s. A basic system consists of a roof-mounted water bladder with a movable insulating cover. This system can control heat exchange between interior and exterior environments by covering and uncovering the bladder between night and day. When heating is a concern the bladder is uncovered during the day allowing sunlight to warm the water bladder and store heat for evening use. When cooling is a concern the covered bladder draws heat from the building's interior during the day and is uncovered at night to radiate heat to the cooler atmosphere. The Skytherm house in Atascadero uses a prototype roof pond for heating and cooling.