ALLENSWORTH, Calif.(KBAK/KBFX) — For 250 years, America has been built on stories that connect us. Just north of Bakersfield, there’s a town that makes you feel like you’re in a time capsule.

Allensworth was established and governed by African Americans in 1908. In this week’s Amazing America, we focused on one Army veteran who saw a vision to bring people of all colors together.

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“Our mission to make sure this community is on the map and stays on the map as a historical community that was created, formed, financed and governed by all black,” said Allensworth Community Service District Board President Sherry Hunter.

Just north of Delano, you’ll find Allensworth State Historic Park. From 1908 to 1918, nearly 300 African Americans came to live in Allensworth, the only township built, financed and governed by African Americans to ever exist in California.

“A lot of people don’t even know the town still exists,” explains Hunter. “Very few people know that there is a town of Allensworth. It is my family’s mission to get the town back on the map. Colonel (Allen) Allensworth didn’t create a park, he created a community, and that’s what should be represented here, historically.”

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Colonel Allen Allensworth, a former slave and high-ranking Lieutenant Colonel chaplain, founded the town to provide a safe haven for ex-slaves.

“Once he retired, he wanted to find a place where his people could escape the Jim Crow South,” said Hunter. “And with that, he came west. He started gathering people that he knew, that were all professional people, to come help him find a place where they could live in peace and be governed by themselves and out of the umbrella of the Jim Crow South.”

Despite initial success, the town declined due to lack of water rights and economic support, leading to a population decline.

“The community was functioning off artesian wells. As artesian wells dried up, he went to Southern California to petition for water rights because the person that sold them the land reneged on the bill to give them water rights. While in Southern California in 1914, he was ran over by a motorcyclist and killed. After that, with no water rights, there was the White River that used to feed into Allensworth. It was then diverted to Alpaugh.”

As the population declined, efforts to revive the town began in the 1970s, with significant progress in the 2000s. Community members became pioneers to revive the city. One of them being Hunter’s mother, Nettie Mae Morrison.

“When she sold our home in LA and moved here, we go, ‘why would you move here? There’s nothing here.’ She said, ‘because I want to be part of history. I want to help this town get divide. I don’t want to see it die.’” said Hunter. “And all the projects and things, different projects she had to fight off, brought attention to Allensworth. That’s why, 100 years later, this town is being revived.”

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Current projects include installing new wells and a 500,000-gallon storage tank to support growth. The cemetery, containing pioneers’ graves, is being preserved and restored.

“Our motto is for them to be recognized with the pride in the dignity they once held,” said Hunter. “Those are our ancestors whose blood, sweat and tears came from the Jim Crow South here to have a free place to live and to call their own, and they were successful at it.”

Hunter says the historic park is governed by the state. She wants to make sure the community is recognized as well.

“Allensworth was always considered a hamlet,” she said. “In March of 2026, we went to the planning commission with a community plan, and it was approved, 5-0. We had then taken it to the County Board of Supervisors, and it was approved, 5-0.”

As a matter of fact, Hunter says it won an award for one of the best community plans presented to the planning community and the county board of supervisors that she says will drastically help with the growth and the projects that they want to do to help revive the town.

The Allensworth State Park is open every day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Park information can be found here.