Founded in 1908, Allensworth throws one of the best Juneteenth celebrations in the Golden State.
To seek out America ’s smuggled history is to unwittingly assume the role of archeologist and detective — so many of our stories have been buried or tossed aside , waiting for a patient Internet Explorer to excavate them . Such is the case withAmerica ’s Black - founded townsfolk , which sprang up in the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War , a product of America ’s brief and since - defaulted commitment to put up security for the formerly enslave . During those fleeting years — before Jim Crow , redlining , and similar codified measures took custody — newly free Black citizen go down off to make good on the long - promised American Dream , planting their flags in undeveloped plots and offering safehavens where backwash - based favouritism and violence did n’t exist .
That was the goal of Colonel Allen Allensworth . Allensworth was born enslaved in Louisville , Kentucky , taught himself to read and compose , bunk captivity during the Civil War , and rose to become the highest ranking grim officeholder in the US Army by the time he retired in 1906 . That same year , he met Professor William Payne , who had left his office at the West Virginia Colored Institute to follow a teaching career in Pasadena , California . When Payne find that he was not qualified to teach in Pasadena , he and Allensworth decided to spearhead a new Black - led community of interests . Together , the two men — along with LA - based AME pastor Dr. William H. Peck , Nevada mineworker J.W. Palmer , and LA realtor Harry Mitchell — set their sights on a patch of country in southwest Tulare County .
As Sasha Biscoe , president of nonprofit organizationFriends of Allensworth , clarifies , the fact that they bring in Central California was n’t an accident .
Schoolhouse in Allensworth, California|Craig Kohlruss/Fresno Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
“ It was centrally settle , with three artesian underground well that bubbled up freely so they did n’t have to dig , ” she explicate . “ Colonel Allensworth understood water , so he knew that the well were not enough to deal the township as a whole . That ’s why , when he purchased the state from the Pacific Farming Company , it posit in the contract that urine would be provided as the township grew . Well , that did n’t materialise . ”
The Golden Age of Allensworth
Originally launch as Solito , the name of the town was change to Allensworth in 1908 to honor its founder . In 1912 , Allensworth became a vote precinct and established its own locally fund school territorial dominion — the first Black - founded school territorial dominion in the state — feature a school with an elementary , middle , and high schooltime . Colonel Allensworth ’s wife Josephine Leavell served as the first school instructor and a trustee on the school board . Branches of the Tulare County Library and Post Office were established soon after , double-dyed with a reading elbow room in a freestanding subroutine library edifice . In 1914 , Allensworth was sanction as a judicial district , with Oscar Overr and William H. Dotson elect as Justice of the Peace and Constable , severally .
“ Allensworth was a paradise , a place where everyone knew each other and watched out for each other , ” says Biscoe . “ There was no clink by design . The Colonel did not want to lock his the great unwashed up . [ You ] would be removed from the townspeople if you misbehave , but there was no clink . ”
Over 300 people endure in Allensworth at its height in the early 1920s . In improver to opening a barbershop , bakery , and ecumenical stores , Allensworth was a successful agriculture township , attract farmers thanks to its fertile soil . finally , however , a series of unfortunate events lead to the town ’s devastating declination .
In 1914 , Colonel Allensworth was killed after being fall by a motorcycle during a visit to Los Angeles . The town ’s co - founder and school principal , Professor William Payne , took over Allensworth ’s responsiblities alongside Justice of the Peace Oscar Overr , both dedicate to realise the Colonel ’s vision . But as the township grew , the demand for water increase . Despite its promise , Pacific Farming Company never delivered a sufficient supply of irrigated water , choosing rather to divert it to white community . To add revilement to injury , the train that had once stopped in Allensworth was prompt several nautical mile to the townspeople of Alpaugh , leave in a deprivation of an estimate $ 5,000 in monthly taxation .
Biscoe notes , “ racial discrimination was the ground why Allensworth had to exist in the first blank space , and it was also to blame for why it did not flower as the Colonel intended . ”
Present-day Allensworth and a hopeful renaissance
Today , Allensworth has a population of less than 500 occupier , made up in the first place of migrant worker ( the 2010 census reported a Black universe of zero ) . The town was memorialized in 1974 , and while it ’s technically a ghost town , there ’s reason to be optimistic .
Allensworth received a assignment in 2022 to clean up the local piddle supply , and Friends of Allensworth still actively organizes regular events and educational circuit , work with theColonel Allensworth State Historic Parkto share the town ’s unparalleled history and protect it for future generation . They ’ve been holding an annualJuneteenth celebrationsince the affiliation was establish in 1984 , have music and dance operation , informational talks , vendors , and more . It all rifle down the weekend before Juneteenth , so as not to intervene with other pop events . Elsewhere , an annual rededication consequence takes place every October , followed by a Black History Month celebration in February , and an Allensworth May Festival each bounce .
But outside of these occasions , Allensworth enjoys a dry , meek climate that makes it agreat daytime or weekend stumble from LAor San Francisco — both of which are within a three - hour drive and approachable by Amtrak .
A portrait of Colonel Allensworth.|Photo by © Ted Streshinsky/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park offers 15 bivouac with picnic tables , flak rings , bathrooms , and shower , include facilities for disabled visitor . schooling field trips and educational tour can be organized with the park , include ego - guided “ cell telephone set tours . ”
Colonel Allensworth ’s home is painstakingly decorate to reflect the clock time period , with preserve materials from his life in the military and ministry . In function until 1972 , the school represents one of the townsfolk ’s most significant building , furnished just as it was in 1915 . you could also call the Mary Dickinson Memorial Library and condition out a small display of farm equipment that answer as a nod to the Ithiel Town ’s former condition as an agrarian center .
“ The Mungo Park buy the same prefab homes from Sears & Roebuck , so when you come here , it gives you a feel of the downtown orbit with theatre , two computer storage , a drugstore , and a Samuel Barber shop , ” sum Biscoe . “ When you go inside the edifice , you could see how they lived — it ’s like you ’re driving back into 1918 . ”
Inside a home in Allensworth, California.|Craig Kohlruss/Fresno Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park|mlhradio/Flickr
Allensworth House|California State Parks/Flickr
