The "Acorn' Building in Paso Robles

This is the iconic Paso Robles "Acorn" building -- except it isn't. The real Acorn Building was built in 1892 for one of the Paso Robles founders, Daniel D. Blackburn. It was his wife Cecelia's idea to make the clock tower in an acorn shape. The building had been a home to many organizations and businesses until the building collapsed in the 2003  earthquake which killed two people when the tower fell.

The building you see here is the resurrected version, rebuilt to look like the original in 2006. To me it represents the determination of the people of Paso Robles to put their city back  together after the closure of many downtown buildings after the 6.5 earthquake. For years the view from the park included many construction fences and wooden sidewalks as the city rebuilt. Now our visitors see the "new" city and may not even know about its short "ugly" period. It's beautiful once again.

Were you in Paso Robles on the day the earthquake happened in December, 2003, as people were finishing up their Christmas shopping?

Now you can put the Acorn Building back together again by working this puzzle available on Zazzle.

Clock Tower, Downtown Paso Robles, California Jigsaw Puzzles
Browse other puzzles