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How Allensworth, California Became a Model Community for Black Americans in the Early 1900s
And why activists are fighting to preserve its legacy.
By Maria C. Hunt
Allen Allensworth. courtesy of California State Parks
Like many other Black people in the early 1900s, Colonel Allen Allensworth yearned for a place where he could live his best life. So he decided to do something about it: The formerly enslaved man and decorated veteran teamed up with educators and entrepreneurs to found Allensworth, a model California community just for Black people in 1908.
Allensworth was designed as a self-contained community with its own voting precinct, schools, justice of the peace, and constable. It had a Santa Fe train depot that brought visitors and commerce to the town, acres of fertile farmland and assurances of plentiful water to ensure the town’s growth. Allensworth thrived for a time, attracting as many as 300 residents, and then dwindled due to a series of devastating blow
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William Randolph Heart’s old ranch headquarters was constructed in 1930. Hearst and architect Julia Morgan’s classic, Moorish/Mission Revival structure, dubbed the Hacienda or Milpitas Ranch House, was sold to the U.S. Army in 1940.
The Hacienda initially served as operations headquarters for Fort Hunter Liggett until the base facilities were constructed in the dawning days of WWII.
Today the Hacienda remains as a treasured historic icon on Army base tucked in a remote valley in the Santa Lucia Mountains in southern Monterey County adjacent to Mission San Antonio.
Come along and join correspondent Tom Wilmer and Lisa Cipolla, historian and Cultural Resources Program Manager at Army Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett for a tour of the Hacienda and tales from the past.