Download or read book Allensworth, the Freedom Colony written by Alice C. Royal and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1908. Colonel Allen Allensworth founded a small town in the dry alkaline soil of California's Central Valley. A high-ranking U.S. Army officer and chaplain who had escaped from slavery, he envisioned a utopian community where African Americans could thrive. The town flourished between 1908 and 1918, when some three hundred families relocated there to establish a self-sufficient farming community with its own school, church, businesses, and municipal government. Its existence became and is to this day a symbol and an inspiration to African Americans around the country. In 1976, Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park was created to restore the buildings and preserve the history of this exceptional community. Book jacket.