When former slave turned U.S. Naval officer Col. Allensworth founded the town that bears his name in the southwestern corner of Tulare County in 1908, water was gushing just below the surface fed by the Tulare Lake, at one time the largest lake west of Mississippi. The town, located just a few miles from the former lake bed in Corcoran, was prospering with its train station and ample supply of water but its success, and water supply, would begin to run out.
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