8/6/2014
8/6/2014
8/6/2014
8/6/2014
Landmark information
- Location:
Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, State Highway 43, 9 miles west of State Highway 99 - Plaque:
Official State Plaque - Site:
Existing - Date First Visited:
8/6/2014 - Date Most Recently Visited:
8/6/2014 - GPS Coordinates:
N 35 51.581, W 119 23.221 - Other Designations:
National Register of Historic Places
About this landmark
Plaque text:
Allensworth
Established on August 3, 1908, the town of Allensworth was the vision of Lt. Colonel Allen Allensworth. Born in 1842, Allensworth escaped slavery during the Civil War and joined the Union Navy. In 1886, he became the chaplain of the 24th Infantry Regiment, retiring in 1906 as the highest ranking African American officer in the U. S. Army.
On June 30, 1908, Colonel Allensworth, professor William Payne, Dr. W.H. Peck, Harry Mitchell, and J.W. Palmer formed the California Colony and Home Promoting Association. They purchased land at this location to build the town of Allensworth - the only town in California founded, built, governed, and populated entirely by African Americans.