Nicodemus, Kansas History

Between 1870 and 1880 was the period of the "Exodus" of blacks from the deep south to the promised land of Kansas when their numbers in the state increased from 17,108 to 43,107.

Nicodemus was the first and primary black rural settlement in Kansas and was established in 1877 by "Exodusters." Nicodemus was the first community in Graham County. This is the last survivor of a dozen all black Kansas settlements and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.

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