Nicodemus National Historic Site

Nicodemus National Historic Site
Location	Nicodemus, Kansas, USA
Nearest city	Nicodemus, Kansas
Coordinates	39°23′27″N 99°37′03″W / 39.39083°N 99.6175°W / 39.39083; -99.6175Coordinates: 39°23′27″N 99°37′03″W / 39.39083°N 99.6175°W / 39.39083; -99.6175
Area	161 acres (0.65 km2)
Established	November 12, 1996
Visitors	28,065 (in 2005)
Governing body	National Park Service

Township Hall in Nicodemus

Nicodemus National Historic Site, located in Nicodemus, Kansas, United States, preserves, protects and interprets the only remaining western town established by African Americans during the Reconstruction Period following the American Civil War. The town of Nicodemus is symbolic of the pioneer spirit of African Americans who dared to leave the only region they had been familiar with to seek personal freedom and the opportunity to develop their talents and capabilities. The site was named for a legendary African-American slave who purchased his freedom.

The historic site contains 5 buildings:

• Township Hall (now home to a temporary visitor center)
• African Methodist Episcopal Church
• First Baptist Church
• St. Francis Hotel
• Nicodemus School District #1 Schoolhouse

The story of Nicodemus

Nicodemus was founded in 1877, led by Rev. W.H. Smigh, a black minister, and W.R. Hill, a white land developer, and five other black men who formed the Nicodemus Town Company and began visiting churches in Kentucky to encourage people to move to Kansas. Kansas was a free state, part of the Underground Railroad and home to abolitionist John Brown. Handbills and flyers distributed by the company called Nicodemus a place for "African Americans to establish a black self-government."

By the mid 1880s Nicodemus was a small, bustling town. There were two newspapers, three general stores and at least three churches. The town had a number of small hotels, an ice cream parlor, bank, livery and a number of homes. The population was an estimated 700 at the town's heyday.

But to ensure growth the town needed the railroad to come through. The railroad passed farther south. Over time people moved closer to the railway and established a new town called Bogue. Bogue has a population of 173 today.

Perhaps one of Nicodemus' most famous residents is Veryl Switzer. Switzer was an All-American football player for Kansas State in 1951, 1952 and 1953. He went on to play two seasons for the National Football League Green Bay Packers, before taking leave to serve in the U.S. Air Force. He resumed is professional career with the Packers after 2½ years in the military. He later went on to play for the Calgary Stampeders and the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League before retiring.

Switzer is now farming 840 acres (3.4 km²), in Nicodemus, and is one of the top investors in the creation of a flour mill there. A co-op was formed in 1999; and, while "Promised Land Flour" and "Nicodemus Pancake Mix" are being marketed, the flour mill has not yet been built.

The town is still a tourist attraction, attracting about 8,600 tourists annually.

Sources: The Kansas Guidebook by Marci Penner, Copy. 2005 and The Associated Press

• 

  St. Francis Hotel

• 

  African Methodist Episcopal Church

• 

  Nicodemus Township School

• 

  First Baptist Church

Academic References

• Kansas State Historical Society, Historic Sites Survey. Historic Preservation in Kansas. Black History Sites, A Beginning Point. Topeka: Kansas State Historical Society, 1977.

Nicodemus in 1885

Other sources

• The Kansas Guidebook for Explorers by Marci Penner, copyright 2005
• Associated Press report "Former football star returns to help save dying town," August, 2006.

External links

• National Park Service: official site
• Kansas State Historical Society Nicodemus Portrait