The only western town founded by African Americans during Reconstruction that is still lived in.
Photo: Ser Amantio di Nicolao · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
In 1877, freedpeople from Kentucky stepped off onto open shortgrass prairie in Graham County, Kansas, and started a town. Nicodemus was promoted by a town company organized that April, and the first arrivals spent their first winter in dugouts cut into the hillsides. Hundreds more came during the Exoduster migration that followed. Nicodemus grew into a real town with churches, a school, businesses, and Black officeholders in county and state government, then lost most of its commerce when the railroads laid track around it in the late 1880s rather than through it.
What makes Nicodemus singular is not that it survived as a ruin. It survived as a town. It is the only remaining western settlement established by African Americans during Reconstruction, and people still live here — including descendants of the original settlers. That fact should shape how you visit. The National Park Service preserves and interprets five historic buildings: the Township Hall (now the visitor center), the First Baptist Church, the A.M.E. Church, the St. Francis Hotel, and the Nicodemus School District No. 1 schoolhouse. Everything else on these few blocks is somebody's home, yard, or church.
Be honest with yourself about scale before you drive out here. This is a short visit — a small visitor center, a handful of buildings on a self-guided walk, and a lot of sky. The exhibits and the people are what carry it. Nicodemus was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 and became a unit of the National Park System on November 12, 1996. There is no fee.
The 1939 Township Hall serves as the park's visitor center and holds the site's exhibits, film, and bookstore. It's a small space and the story it tells is dense — the town company, the dugout winter of 1877–78, the Exodusters, the railroad bypass, and the generations who stayed.
Insider tipCall ahead. This is a very small staff, and posted hours have shifted more than once. Do not drive three hours on the assumption the door is open.
Township Hall, the First Baptist Church, the A.M.E. Church, the St. Francis Hotel, and the District No. 1 schoolhouse stand within a few blocks of each other. Exteriors are viewable on a self-guided walk any time; interior access beyond the visitor center depends on staffing and on which buildings are open in a given season.
Insider tipThe walk is flat, short, and completely unshaded. Ask at the visitor center which interiors are accessible that day rather than trying doors.
Plan a trip to this spot →Nicodemus is an inhabited community with a very small resident population, and the historic buildings sit among occupied houses. The churches hold services. People here are used to visitors, and are generally glad the story is being told — but they are living their lives, not staffing an exhibit.
Insider tipStay on public streets and the interpreted properties. Don't photograph homes or residents without asking, and don't wander into yards looking for a better angle.
An annual celebration with roots going back to the settlement's earliest years, drawing descendants of the original settlers back to Nicodemus each summer for several days of parade, music, worship, food, and family. It is the one time of year the town is full.
Insider tipVerify the dates and any registration details with the organizers or the park before planning around it. Lodging in the area is thin and fills for that weekend — book Hill City or Stockton well ahead, or plan on a longer drive in.
No gate and no fee — the site is the town, reached from US-24.
The visitor center is in the Township Hall at 304 Washington Ave., just south of the roadside park off US-24. There is no entrance fee and no pass required. Visitor center hours and open days have varied — call the park or check nps.gov/nico before you go. You will need your own vehicle; there is no transit, and services in town are minimal to nonexistent.
No lodging, camping, or dining at the site — base in a US-24 town and drive in.
The Graham County seat, roughly 15 miles west on US-24, and the closest place with a small selection of motels, restaurants, groceries, and fuel.
Booking tipThe most practical base for a Nicodemus visit. Options are few — reserve rather than arriving and hoping.
About 17 miles east on US-24 in Rooks County, similar in scale to Hill City, with basic lodging, food, and fuel.
Booking tipWorks well if you're approaching from the east or continuing toward US-183.
About an hour southeast on I-70, and by a wide margin the largest town in this part of Kansas — the broadest choice of chain lodging, restaurants, and services.
Booking tipThe reliable fallback, especially on Homecoming weekend or if you want a guaranteed room.
Is there an entrance fee?
No. There is no fee at Nicodemus National Historic Site and no pass is required.
How long should I allow?
About an hour covers the visitor center and a walk past the five historic buildings. It is a small site, and it will feel small — the reason to come is the story and the fact that the community is still here, not the acreage.
Will the visitor center actually be open?
Check first. Nicodemus runs on a very small staff, and posted hours have changed. Call the park or check nps.gov/nico before making the drive. The exterior walking tour is available any time.
Can I go inside the buildings?
The Township Hall visitor center is the reliably open one. Access to the other historic buildings varies with staffing and season — ask at the visitor center rather than trying doors.
People live here, right?
Yes. Nicodemus is an inhabited town with a very small population, including descendants of the 1877 settlers, and the churches remain active. Treat it as somebody's neighborhood: stay on public streets and interpreted sites, and ask before photographing people or homes.
What was the Exoduster movement?
The migration of thousands of African Americans out of the South to Kansas and other western states during and after Reconstruction, seeking land and self-governance beyond the reach of post-Reconstruction violence and disenfranchisement. Nicodemus, founded in 1877, predates and helped inspire the larger 1879 wave.
Are there services in town?
Assume none. Arrive fueled and with water and food. The nearest reliable gas, groceries, and restaurants are in Hill City and Stockton.
Pick your vehicle, line up the stops on the way in and out, and carry the whole route in your pocket.
