history along the tracks
Welcome to our landing page for the Allensworth Juneteenth Celebration. Whether you’re on your way to the Celebration at Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park or returning home, we invite you to learn more about the many stories of African American communities along the journey to Allensworth and African Americans’ many rich contributions to rail. Read more below to learn more about history along the tracks.
Oakland
The history of Oakland reflects Black life in America. Escaping Jim Crow laws in the South during the Second Great Migration, African Americans came to Oakland in great numbers between 1940 and 1970. Blue-collar jobs, mostly in the transportation industry, allowed many African-Americans to join the middle class.* Many culturally significant and historical political struggles, artistic movements, and intellectual innovations of the 20th century trace back to Black Oakland.
In the early 1980s, African Americans made up nearly 50 percent of Oakland. Today, African Americans make up only 24 percent of the population. Pushed by high housing prices and costs of living, the Black population has steadily decreased and the culture of Oakland has changed. ‘A Changing Oakland’ (Oakland Here and Now) is a stories project that aims to preserve and share the voices then and now of Oakland’s rich history.
Sources/Learn More:
*Where to Eat, Stay, and Play in Oakland to Experience the City's Rich Black History
Russell City, formerly in unincorporated part outside of Hayward, CA
Russell City was an unincorporated community in Hayward about 10 miles south of Oakland that served as a thriving community for African American and, later, Latino families in the Bay Area. The community existed from 1853 to 1964, when residents were displaced through eminent domain to make way for a large industrial park. There is now an active campaign for reparations for wrongful and racist housing practices in the mid-1900s that forced hundreds of Latino and Black families out of their homes. The area is still known for its blues music heritage, the annual Hayward Russell City Blues Festival, which celebrates this history.
Sources/Learn More:
Article: Remembering Russell City: A Thriving East Bay Town Razed by Racist Government | KQED
Port Chicago, near Martinez and Concord
The 1944 Port Chicago disaster was one of the worst wartime disasters during WWII in America when two warships accidentally exploded near present-day Concord, killing 320 African American sailors and injuring 390 more. After the tragedy, 50 sailors who refused to work on the unsafe ships were charged with mutiny and jailed. The trial and punishment of the "Port Chicago 50" caused much conflict and is still argued about today. Because these men stood up for safer working conditions, things got better in the Navy, and it likely saved countless lives and prevention of injuries to today.
Sources/Learn More:
Website: People - Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
YouTube Video: The Port Chicago 50: Towards Exoneration (youtube.com)
Black Settlements in the Central Valley
More than a dozen rural historically all-black San Joaquin Valley communities grew up around the same time as Allensworth in the Central Valley. Many of these settlements, such as Teviston, South Dos Palos, Lanara, Cookseyville, and Fairmead, were established as a way for Black people to create their own communities where they could feel safe and supported. The communities often grew just outside predominantly white towns.
Many of these settlements have strong ties to the development of Central Valley agriculture, and all have their own unique history and characteristics. These settlements had churches and businesses to serve the local community, but not the formal structure of Allensworth, which was founded as an official town, funded and governed by African Americans.
At its heyday, up to eighteen freight and passenger trains passed daily through Fairmead, founded four years after Allensworth. Cookseyville continued to thrive into the 1980s. Several of these settlements still exist today, many housing a majority Latino population. While some are thriving, others have experienced a multitude of challenges throughout the years, including inadequate water supply. Learn more by visiting the links below.
Sources/Learn More:
Article: Black Farmworkers in the Central Valley: Escaping Jim Crow for a Subtler Kind of Racism | KQED
Podcast: Remembering Cookseyville, A Black Settlement In Atwater (kvpr.org)
Research Paper: Growing Along the side of the Road: Rural African American Settlements in Central California
Research Paper: African American Communities in Central California
Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park
Allensworth was founded by Buffalo Soldier and Civil War Veteran, Colonel Allen Allensworth and four other settlers. Their dream was to establish an African American agricultural community, envisioning a haven after the emancipation proclamation. It was a place where they could build a thriving community of like-minded people who would not be treated unfairly based on their race.
The town was purchased by the California State Parks in 1974, 70 years after the death of Colonel Allensworth, ensuring that his life and the town's legacy would live on through future generations.This historic state park spans over 240 acres, with twenty-two renovated and reconstructed buildings in the town center and an outdoor seating area. Trees planted by the California Conservation Corps provide shade to the picnic area, complete with BBQ stands.
Sources/Learn More:
Website: Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park (ca.gov)
Video: Valley PBS Spotlight | Colonel Allensworth State Park (youtube.com)
Podcast: Remembering Allensworth, A California Town Founded And Run By African Americans (kvpr.org)
African American Contributions to Rail
The Rail Car “Jenny” Coupler
In 1897, Andrew Jackson Beard invented a new and safer way to connect large rail cars called the “Jenny coupler,” which enabled two interlocking pieces to lock automatically. His work built on existing couplers and marked an incredible improvement for connecting rail cars, creating a safer coupling experience by eliminating the need for people to jump between the two rail cars. Beard’s coupler invention saved countless numbers of accidental deaths and injuries, with many versions of his coupler being used today.
Sources/Learn More:
Website: Black History Month: Andrew J. Beard – Southeastern Railway Museum (train-museum.org)
Video: Andrew Jackson Beard Was Mastermind Behind The Jenny Coupler (youtube.com)
The Pullman Porters
A few years after the Civil War, Chicago businessman George M. Pullman started hiring thousands of African American men, many of whom were formerly enslaved, to serve white passengers on his company's luxury sleeping cars. Despite being overworked, underpaid, and demeaned, generations of Pullman porters proudly served railway passengers and helped advance the rights and futures of African Americans.
Sources/Learn More:
Website: Oakland’s Pullman Porters | Oakland Public Library (oaklandlibrary.org)
Website:The Pullman Porters - Union, Definition & Movie | HISTORY
Video: Legacy of the Pullman Porters
Amenities Onboard our Train
Stay connected with free Wi-fi
Browse the internet, stream movies and music, or work remotely with our free WI-FI.
Relax in comfort
With our air conditioned cabins, individual lighting, lack of middle seats and reclining seats, our buses are designed for comfort.
Spacious interior
We make room for you to relax, stay entertained and stretch out- including tables on some buses!
