For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Allensworth as a census-designated place (CDP).

On June 30, 1908, clergyman Colonel Allen Allensworth and Denison University graduate Professor William Alexander Payne[5][6] established the California Colony and Home Promoting Association.

[6] Allensworth and Payne were the chief officers, with the other constituents being miner John W. Palmer; minister William H. Peck; and real estate agent Harry A. Mitchell (all of whom were Black men).

[6] The Association purchased 20 acres of land from the Pacific Farming Company with the goal of establishing a town for Black soldiers.

"[3] The land was divided into individual parcels,[7][3] forming "a colony of orderly and industrious African Americans who could control their own destiny.

"[8] Allensworth's reputation drew many from all over the country to the town, causing some to buy property sight-unseen in order to support the efforts.

In the early 20th century, the area boasted a great boom and hosted California's first African American school district by 1910.

[8] Its growth was reported in The New York Age, the California Eagle (which emphasized that "there is not a single white person having anything to do with the affairs of the colony") and the Los Angeles Times, which labelled Allensworth as the "ideal Negro settlement.

Despite this, the 1915 voting registration showed "farmers, storekeepers, carpenters, nurses and more, all suggesting that the colony’s business and industrial output was prodigious.

[15] Other townsites located on this historic shoreline include Lemoore on its northern tip, and Kettleman City on the western shore, while nearby Alpaugh is on the eastern end of a long, sandy ridge at elevation 210 ft. that was once called Hog Island.

Due to diversions of the natural waterways since the mid to late 19th century, only a tiny remnant of Tulare Lake now remains.

Of great interest, thousands of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis), use this refuge each winter from November through March.

[17] Also present are Pacific pond turtles, once an important part of Tulare Lake's fishery trade with San Francisco.