Nicodemus, Kansas

**Nicodemus** is an unincorporated community in Graham County, Kansas, United States.  The community was created in 1877. it is named after the Biblical figure Nicodemus.

The Nicodemus National Historic Site is in Nicodemus. The place commemorates the only remaining western town created by African Americans during the Reconstruction Period. During the last weekend of July, former residents and their descendants return for celebrations and parades.

In 1976, Nicodemus was named a National Historic Landmark. As of 2018, its First Baptist Church, African Methodist Episcopal Church, and other historic buildings are in bad condition that they cannot be opened to the public.

## Geography

The United States Census Bureau says that the Nicodemus township has an area of 32.4 square miles. The town is along Highway 24 in the Great Plains.

### Climate

Summer is typically long and hot. Thunderstorms are common during summer. Spring and fall are usually short, while winter is cold.  The average precipitation is about 22 inches.

## More reading

- Crockett, Norman I. _The Black Towns_. Lawrence: Regents Press of Kansas, 1979.
- Hamilton, Kenneth Marvin. _Black Towns and Profit: Promotion and Development in the Trans-Appalachian West, 1877–1915_. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1991.
- Hamilton, Kenneth Marvin. "The Origins and Early Promotion of Nicodemus: A Pre-Exodus, All-Black Town." _Kansas History_ 5 (winter 1982): 220–242.
- _Promised Land on the Solomon: Black Settlement at Nicodemus, Kansas_. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Region, n.d.
- Schwendemann, Glen. "Nicodemus: Negro Haven on the Solomon." _Kansas Historical Quarterly_ 29 (spring 1963): 10–31.
- Shaw, Bill & Daniel Chu. _Going home to Nicodemus: The story of an African American frontier town and the pioneers who settled it_. Morristown: Silver Burdett Press, 1994.
- Shortridge, James R. _Peopling the plains: Who Settled Where in Frontier Kansas_. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1995
- Athearn, Robert G. _In Search Of Canaan: Black Migration to Kansas 1879–80_.  Lawrence: Regents Press of Kansas, 1978
- Ravage, John W. _Black Frontiers: Images of the Black Experience on the North American Frontier_.  Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1997.

## Other websites

- Nicodemus National Historic Site
- Nicodemus Photo Tour
- Kansas State Historical Society, Portrait of Nicodemus
- A history of Nicodemus, Graham County, Kansas
- Nicodemus: Negro haven on the Solomon - 1971
- 1877 Historic Flyer

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Nicodemus, Kansas
- **settlement type**: Unincorporated area, Unincorporated community
- **image skyline**: Nicodemus.JPG
- **image caption**: Nicodemus Township Hall (2006)
- **image map**: Nocodemus plat map.png
- **map caption**: Nicodemus plat map
- **image map1**: Map of Graham Co, Ks, USA.png
- **map caption1**: Kansas Department of Transportation, KDOT map of Graham County, Kansas, Graham County (:File:Kansas official transportation map legend.png, legend)
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **subdivision name**: United States
- **subdivision type1**: U.S. state, State
- **subdivision name1**: Kansas
- **subdivision type2**: List of counties in Kansas, County
- **subdivision name2**: Graham County, Kansas, Graham
- **subdivision type3**: List of townships in Kansas, Township
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 1877
- **established title1**: Platted
- **named for**: Nicodemus
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **elevation ft**: 2021
- **population as of**: 2010 United States Census, 2010
- **population density sq mi**: auto
- **timezone**: Central Time Zone, CST
- **utc offset**: -6
- **timezone dst**: CDT
- **utc offset dst**: -5
- **postal code type**: ZIP code
- **area code type**: North American Numbering Plan, Area code
- **blank name**: Federal Information Processing Standard, FIPS code
- **blank info**: 20-50550
- **blank1 name**: Geographic Names Information System, GNIS feature ID
- **blank1 info**: 0472219