Atascadero News

The Atascadero News
TypeWeekly newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner13 Stars Media
FounderEdward Gardner Lewis
PublisherHayley Mattson
EditorMelissa Mattson
Founded1916
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters5860 El Camino Real
Atascadero, California 93422
Circulation2,784
Sister newspapers
Paso Robles Press
Websiteatascaderonews.com

The Atascadero News is a weekly printed newspaper and daily online publication based in Atascadero, San Luis Obispo County, California. It serves the residents of northern San Luis Obispo County. The newspaper is operated by its 13 Stars Media, with a readership primarily in Atascadero and surrounding communities, including Templeton, Creston and Santa Margarita.[1]

History

On January 22, 1916, the first edition of The Atascadero News was published. L.D. Beckwith was managing editor.[2][3] The paper was under the editorial control of Edward Gardner Lewis, who founded Atascadero as a planned, utopian community three years earlier.[4] In 1920, Lewis replaced Beckwith as editor,[5] and soon gave the position to Capt. Harry L. Wells.[6] In 1923, Rev. H.J. Loken became editor.[7] In May 1925, Lewis lost control over the News after his company, the Colony Holding Corporation, was forced into involuntary bankruptcy.[8]

In July 1925, Ted R. Bishop leased the paper and became its publisher.[9] He published the newspaper through the Great Depression. The paper dropped from eight pages to six and finally to four in the 1930s.[10] In 1935, L.B. Garrett of Los Angeles acquired the paper.[10] In July 1936, J. Montgomery Brown bought the paper from Garrett.[11] In 1940, his wife died.[12]

In September 1947, Vernon S. Tegland, former owner of the Fallbrook Enterprise, bought the paper from Brown.[13] After a year, he sold it in July 1949 to George J. Porter and Parke F. Keays, who both worked at the Custer County Chief in Nebraska.[14][15] Lon W. Allan joined the paper sometime in the '60s and would go on to serve as its editor for decades before retirement.[16] In January 1972, Keays retired and sold his interest in the business to Porter and his three sons, Jim, Jud and Jack.[17] In 1978, Porter retired.[18]

In 2003, News Media Corporation acquired the News from the Porter family. At that time the paper printed twice-weekly with a circulation of 7,000 and a staff of 24.[19] A year earlier, the company had acquired the Paso Robles Press.[20] In 2019, the company sold the two papers to Nicholas and Hayley Mattson.[21] In 2024, Allan fully retired and penned his final “About the Colony" column.[22] Allan died two years later.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "About". Atascadero News. Retrieved 2026-05-14.
  2. ↑ "Colony Paper Arrives". The Tribune. San Luis Obispo, California. January 26, 1916. p. 8.
  3. ↑ "New Newspaper". The Lompoc Record. January 28, 1916. p. 1.
  4. ↑ "Colony Reorganization". The Tribune. San Luis Obispo, California. April 10, 1916. p. 2.
  5. ↑ "County News". The Arroyo Grande Valley Herald Recorder. Arroyo Grande, California. June 5, 1920. p. 1.
  6. ↑ "Atascadero". The Los Angeles Times. February 6, 1921. p. 45.
  7. ↑ "Loken As Editor". The Tribune. San Luis Obispo, California. April 6, 1923. p. 2.
  8. ↑ "Lewis Is Told He Must Quit Atascadero News". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Associated Press. May 21, 1925. p. 1.
  9. ↑ "Atascadero News Changes Editors". Santa Cruz Sentinel. July 26, 1925. p. 16.
  10. 1 2 Allan, L. W. (2008). Atascadero, The vision of one – The work of many, written by Lon Allan and published by Mike Lucas. ISBN 9780615229270.
  11. ↑ Weaver, Mrs. T.F. (July 22, 1936). "Atascadero". The Tribune. San Luis Obispo, California. p. 7.
  12. ↑ "Mrs. J.M. Brown, Atascadero, Dies". The Tribune. San Luis Obispo, California. March 12, 1940. p. 1.
  13. ↑ "Former Publisher Buys Atascadero Paper". The Fallbrook/Bonsall Enterprise. Fallbrook, California. September 19, 1947. p. 4.
  14. ↑ "Keays Family to Leave Wednesday". The Custer County Chief. Broken Bow, Nebraska. July 25, 1949. p. 1.
  15. ↑ "Keays, Porter Purchase Paper | Broken Bow Newspapermen Will Move To California". The Grand Island Independent. Associated Press. July 25, 1949. p. 1.
  16. 1 2 Mattson, Hayley (April 16, 2026). "L.W. Allan, longtime Atascadero News editor and community historian, dies at 86". The Atascadero News. p. 1.
  17. ↑ "Veteran Newsman Retires". The Grand Island Independent. January 26, 1972. p. 7.
  18. ↑ Bolcom, C.H. (August 8, 1991). "Cornhusker pair are Coloney royality". The Tribune. San Luis Obispo, California. p. 29.
  19. ↑ Yap, Freddie (February 6, 2003). "Illinois chain purchases Atascadero newspaper | Porter family will continue operation". The Tribune. San Luis Obispo, California. p. 23.
  20. ↑ Haley, Kathleen (October 3, 2002). "Paso papers to continue, new owner says". The Tribune. San Luis Obispo, California. p. 15.
  21. ↑ Friberg, Meagan (2019-10-03). "Mattson Family Adopts Local Newspapers". Atascadero News. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  22. ↑ Allan, Lon (March 13, 2018). "After 45 years of column writing, it's time to say goodbye". The Tribune. San Luis Obispo, California. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
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