Amtrak will run special trains to a Central Valley place important to Black history
Amtrak will run special trains Oct. 9 to Allensworth, a one-time Black settlement in Tulare County.
That’s the day of an annual celebration at Col. Allensworth State Historic Park. It has just a few old buildings now, but it could get a visitor center, amphitheater, shade structures and other amenities through a fundraising campaign.
The town is on the route of the Amtrak San Joaquins. It has five daily round trips between Oakland and Bakersfield by way of Modesto, Denair and other stations.
Allen Allensworth founded the town in 1908, The Fresno Bee recounted last month. He had escaped from slavery in Kentucky, served in the Civil War and retired as an Army lieutenant colonel in 1906. He also was an educator and pastor.
The town had more than 300 residents at its peak, served by stores, a bakery, a school, a church and other businesses. The founder hoped to add a university that would become the “Tuskegee of the West.”
Those dreams faded after a few years, for three main reasons. One was Allen Allensworth’s untimely death in 1914. Another was the railroad’s decision to move its station to a nearby town. The third was the loss of water rights.
The latter two reasons had to do with resentment from white residents of the area, leaders of the preservation effort told the Fresno paper.
“Most all the Black towns they started up after the Civil War were either just burned down, destroyed or crippled,” said Sasha Biscoe, president of Friends of Allensworth, a nonprofit group. “Allensworth was crippled.”
The Oct. 9 event is the annual “rededication” of the park, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will feature history-related games, storytelling and arts and crafts. Food and drink will be for sale.
Drivers from the Modesto area can take Highway 99 past Fresno, then follow HIghway 43 to Allensworth.
Amtrak is offering half-off tickets for these trains, marketing manager David Lipari said. They will stop near the former Allensworth station site, where visitors can take a short shuttle bus ride to the park. They can bring bicycles on board to ride at the event, as well as folding chairs to sit on.
The special trains are the southbound 702, 710, 712 and 714 and the northbound 713, 715, 717, and 719. Departure times for each Valley station, along with ticket sales, are at https://amtraksanjoaquins.com/promotion/allensworth-rededication/.
The Allensworth area today is sparsely populated, mainly Latino farmworkers along with some of the Black descendants of the original families.
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
