Kings County celebrates its own Black History
The African American community in both Tulare and Kings counties can take a bow as we remember Martin Luther King and locally celebrate the pending return of fresh water to Allensworth, the state’s only town founded by African Americans 118 years ago.Arsenic-laced groundwater and dry wells all just about killed the hopes of California’s only town founded by African Americans, many formerly enslaved.
A Jan. 20 2026 groundbreaking ceremony officially launched the construction of a new groundwater well for Allensworth in Tulare County near the Kings County line.
Funding for the project comes from the California State Water Board in the form of a $3.8 million Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) drinking water program grant for the construction of the well, and an accompanying storage tank, to supply safe drinking water to the town of about 500.
Perhaps finally the town can thrive.
Kings County history
In Kings County the Board of Supervisors proclaimed February as Black History Month – the annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in the nation’s history. What started as “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans, and is now Black History Month.
The board viewed a presentation delivered by Paula Massey of Women With Visions Unlimited, Inc. detailing information on local Black History in Kings County.
Massey’s presentation included the first black family to settle in Kings County, the first black Sheriff in Kings County,Chris Jordan, the first black Mayor of the City of Corcoran, Patricia Nolan, the first black City Councilwoman of the City of Hanford, Catherine (Cathy) Willis, the first black City Council member of the City of Lemoore, Edward Neal among other firsts.
The migration to California was launched by the Dust Bowl, says Massey, when many Black America families lived and worked on farms in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and other areas where there was no longer any work for them.There were farmers who owned labor camps in the Kings County Area. They recruited these families to come to California where there was plenty of work.Some of the families packed up what they could, and others came with the clothes on their backs. They were housed in buildings like Red’s Camp that was located off the 41 freeway. The long blue house was called the Big House. It housed large families. Many families were able to save money and buy homes or land after living on the camps for a few years.
The first family to settle in Hanford was Loyd and Bessie Welcher. Loyd moved to Hanford in 1888. He was the first Black graduate at Hanford High. He went on to college at Tuskegee University in Alabama.
Tommie Smith
The presentation also included a famous Kings Country Black activist, the 1968 Olympic champion Tommie Smith. Smith was a Lemoore High grad and holder of 11 world records.
Tommie’s Black Power salute with John Carlos standing on the medal podium caused controversy, and was criticized as politicizing the Olympic Games but remembered as a symbolic moment in the history of the Black movement. Born in 1944 Tommie later played several years of professional football, is a coach and teacher and continues to advocate for civil rights.
