Allensworth, California, belied the myth of African-American genetic inferiority by providing the opportunity for hardworking, orderly black Californians to control their own destiny, says Michael Harvey, chief library for the California Historical Society.

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Another function of the colony that would eventually become Allensworth was to provide a home for the soldiers of America’s four all-black regiments. Obviously, this meant much to the colonel. In his promotional newsletter The Sentiment Maker (May 1912), the needs and desires of the soldier were stressed throughout. Headlines regarding Home, Sweet Home called out strongly to the wander-weary military men and their families.

In Allensworth, it was promised that every man would have a good home. For a small outlay of your present pay, the colonel said, you may become independent, yes, even a richer soldier-gentleman, surrounded by people of your own kind, your own sort. As a final inducement, he promised that the community would eventually possess a home for soldiers’ families. There, soldiers could leave their families in a beautiful balmy California climate, surrounded by the very best environment, while overseas on hazardous duty. In short, life in their colony, for the soldier, would be a reward for a job well done.

As the mechanism to transform their ideas into reality, on June 30, 1908, Allensworth and Payne created the California Colony and Home Promoting Association, with offices in the San Fernando Building on Main Street and in downtown Los Angeles. Although Allensworth and Payne were the chief officers of the association, several others also played a significant roles in the colony’s founding: John W. Palmer, a miner; William H. Peck, a minister; and Harry A. Mitchell, a real estate agent.

The association soon ran into difficulties, however, in the problems and expenses of acquiring choice land for a black settlement, and it seemed that the venture might flounder until, as one contemporary put it, the Pacific Farming Company came to the rescue. This white-owned rural land development firm offered the association prime land in Solito (or Solita, as it was spelled on Santa Fe Railroad schedules), a rural area in Tulare County 30 miles north of Bakersfield. Quickly renamed Allensworth in honor of the colonel, Solito/Solita was a good site for the colony. It was a depot station on the main Santa Fe Railroad line from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the soil was fertile, the water seemingly abundant, and the acreage not only plentiful but also reasonably priced.

Initially, many of the colony residents, including Colonel Allensworth, were surprised but gratified that a white company had come to their aid. Yet within five years, the Pacific Farming company would become the colony’s adversary in a water controversy. Its incorporation papers state that the Pacific Farming Company was organized in 1908 to develop rural land into town and village sites. Led by William Loftus of Fullerton, Calif., and Los Angelenos J. R. Treat and W. H. Bryson, this moneymaking venture was headquartered in the Security Building at 508-510 Spring Street in the heart of the Los Angeles business district.

Once the deal was consummated, the association began to market the colony as a haven for conscientious blacks who desired fertile land and a community where their exertions [would be] appreciated. Within a year, the Tulare County Times reported that 35 families were residing in Allensworth. Although obtaining accurate figures concerning the early settlement is difficult, the colony generated enough excitement to attract pioneers from throughout the nation.

The colony’s population was greater than figures listed in government records because of Allensworth’s floating population of people who would come and stay there three or four months and go and the county registrar would know nothing about it, says Henry Singleton, a former resident of Allensworth.

Population figures are also blurred by the fact that many individuals purchased lots but lived in other areas, intending eventually to make Allensworth their home. By 1912, however, Allensworth’s official population of 100 had celebrated the birth of Alwortha Hall, the first baby born in the town, and enjoyed two general stores, a post office, many comfortable homes, such as the one Allen and Josephine Allensworth built in 1910, and a newly completed school, the pride of the community, that also served as the center for the town’s social and political activities.

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