Established on August 3, 1908, 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 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 Allensworth, the only town in California founded, built, governed, and populated entirely by African Americans.