Black pioneer spirit lives on in Nicodemus, amid efforts to create visitors center

It was nearly 150 years ago, in a sunbaked corner of Kansas, that one of the first western towns built by and for Black settlers took shape. Called Nicodemus, it became a magnet after the Civil War for freed Black Americans in the South who faced brutal racism and a lack of opportunity. About 300 settlers — most from Kentucky — arrived in Nicodemus in the fall of 1877 to start a new life in the West.

The preservation of that history began a quarter century ago when the National Park Service named Nicodemus a National Historic Site. The designation was an outlier of sorts. Relatively few historic sites in the United States showcase the experiences of Black Americans. Of the 97,000 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places, for example, around 2,600 focus on Black history and culture. With a Black population of less than 6%, the state — whose motto “Ad Astra per Aspera” means “To the stars through difficulties” — sought to elevate that part of its heritage.

While there are now only 20 residents remaining in the town of Nicodemus, every July, hundreds of former residents and descendants of the founders return for a weekend of festivities as part of the Homecoming Emancipation Celebration, including parades, music, lectures, church services and food. Angela Bates, executive director of the Nicodemus Historical Society, grew up in Pasadena, California, but remembers returning to Nicodemus with her family every summer as a girl.

“I’m a descendant of those first settlers — Black pioneers, cowboys and Buffalo soldiers,” she said recently. “It was in my blood. I was passionate about this history. What keeps Nicodemus surviving even to this day is not only our spirit of determination, but the idea that every year we come back and reconnect with the town and this place called Nicodemus.”

Today, Nicodemus is an unincorporated area in Graham County, sprawling across 32 square miles. Before European settlement, the region was home to many Native American tribes whose descendants still live in Kansas. In the 1870s, when it became the first Black community west of the Mississippi River, Nicodemus was poised for takeoff. By the mid-1880s, it was a thriving town of 1,000 people on the banks of the Solomon River. There were two newspapers, three general stores and several churches, along with hotels, a bank and a livery. It was a proud outpost of the Great Plains, a prosperous municipality comprised almost entirely of Black families.

But when a new railroad came to the county in the late 19th century, the train tracks were rerouted to bypass Nicodemus, prompting a number of businesses to move away. That was followed by the Dust Bowl, with its devastating effects on farming, and the Great Depression. The town’s population had declined to just 76 people in 1935, and many residents lost their land.

A new chapter in Nicodemus is now underway. While the permanent population may be tiny, the town’s impressive role in the settlement of the West by former slaves is gaining greater recognition. The Nicodemus National Historic Site provides an opportunity for Kansans and out-of-state visitors alike to learn about one of the nation’s most enduring stories of Black history and culture — the hopes and struggles of an intrepid group of newly freed Americans as they staked their claim on the frontier.

Connecting with that history binds us not only to our shared heritage, but to one another. “Even though I am not a descendant of Nicodemus, I feel pride in this place,” says Jocelyn Imani, Trust for Public Land’s national Black history and culture director, who visited during the Homecoming celebration. “You hear people say, ‘I am a fifth-generation or a sixth-generation descendant.’ It’s such an American story. Nicodemus Homecoming should be a high-priority destination for everyone.”

The National Park Service, together with residents and supporters, maintains the five remaining historic buildings that make up the site: the St. Francis Hotel (1881), African Methodist Episcopal Church (1885), First Baptist Church (1907), Nicodemus School District No. 1 building (1918) and Nicodemus Township Hall (1939). But Nicodemus has the potential to attract more visitors and to breathe new life into the small, but resilient residential community.

Following its designation as a National Historic Site in 1996, Trust for Public Land helped protect the A.M.E. Church. The site still lacks a permanent visitor center, however. With the National Park Service and Nicodemus community as partners, we plan to establish such a center to tell this unique story. To that end and with support from Sony Pictures and the National Park Foundation, we recently acquired land in Nicodemus and donated it to the National Park Service. Now the work of creating a visitor center worthy of Nicodemus’s remarkable history begins.

Through education and conversation, a new generation will have a chance to engage in the past, present and future of Nicodemus. As Bates, of the Nicodemus Historical Society, puts it: “It’s important that our chapter in American history be preserved. We are not an afterthought; we are part of the story. We should have been at the forefront all along. But what better time than now?”

Diane Regas is president and C.E.O. of Trust for Public Land, a national conservation nonprofit with a long track record of preserving Black historic and cultural sites across the United States.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Nicodemus site plans visitors center to preserve Black pioneer spirit