Community
Nicodemus
Nicodemus sits in Graham County, Kansas. It was founded in 1877 by newly freed African Americans. A Nicodemus Town Company organized the settlement, and early migrants included people from Kentucky. In 1996 Congress established Nicodemus National Historic Site to preserve the town's remaining historic structures.
Timeline
- 1877 Nicodemus was founded in 1877 by newly freed African Americans as a settlement on the Kansas plains. Sourced National Park Servicehttps://www.nps.gov/articles/nicodemus.htmRetrieved 2026-08-22
- 1996 In 1996 Congress established Nicodemus National Historic Site as a National Park Service unit. Sourced National Park Servicehttps://www.nps.gov/places/nicodemus-national-historic-site.htmRetrieved 2026-08-22
Connected through
Exoduster colony founded 1877 National Park Servicehttps://www.nps.gov/articles/nicodemus.htm
Historic structures
HABS documents the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church at Adams & Third Streets, Nicodemus, as survey KS-49-I (LoC item ks0126).
Notes
Nicodemus was founded in 1877 by newly freed African Americans as a settlement on the Kansas plains. Sourced National Park Servicehttps://www.nps.gov/articles/nicodemus.htmRetrieved 2026-08-22
In 1877, Black entrepreneurs in Topeka joined with a white developer to form the Nicodemus Town Company and selected a site in the Solomon River valley. Sourced National Park Servicehttps://www.nps.gov/places/nicodemus-kansas.htmRetrieved 2026-08-22
Early settlers included migrants from Kentucky, including many from the Lexington area in 1877. Sourced National Park Servicehttps://www.nps.gov/articles/nicodemus.htmRetrieved 2026-08-22
In 1996 Congress established Nicodemus National Historic Site as a National Park Service unit. Sourced National Park Servicehttps://www.nps.gov/places/nicodemus-national-historic-site.htmRetrieved 2026-08-22
Five historic structures remain associated with the site: First Baptist Church, African Methodist Episcopal Church, St. Francis Hotel, the First District School, and Nicodemus Township Hall. Sourced National Park Servicehttps://www.nps.gov/places/nicodemus-national-historic-site.htmRetrieved 2026-08-22
Kansapedia’s Exodusters article documents the broader post to Civil War Black migration to Kansas that frames Nicodemus’s settlement story (link-out). Link only Exodustershttps://www.kansashistory.gov/kansapedia/exodusters/12048Retrieved 2026-08-22
The Historic American Buildings Survey documented the Nicodemus Historic District (HABS KS-49), noting 1877 initial construction for the townsite survey context. Sourced Library of Congresshttps://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ks0077/Retrieved 2026-08-22
Nicodemus (founded 1877) is the hub for Connected-through Exodusters peers Topeka, Dunlap, Atchison, and Kansas City, Kansas. Sourced National Park Servicehttps://www.nps.gov/articles/nicodemus.htmRetrieved 2026-08-22