October 8, 2022 @ 13:05 CST
Site Visit #59
The Civil War has ended and the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution has abolished slavery throughout the country. Yet in southern states, blacks find their new constitutional rights denied or “circumvented” by the states once reconstruction ends. What is a person to do if he wants that freedom so offered by the recent amendments?
For some blacks in Kentucky, it was to heed the words attributed to Horace Greeley and “Go west, young man”.
Racial discrimination still existed in many frontier towns, so their idea was to develop an all-black town. W. H. Smith, with the help of a town developer and joined by five ministers, founded the town of Nicodemus in north-central Kansas in 1877. Some 300 settlers arrived in September, with sixty taking one look at the living conditions and hightailing back to Kentucky.
The rest, though, stayed. By the mid-1880s, they had built a successful, bustling town. It boasted multiple hotels, stores, churches, and schools. All it needed was a railroad line to bring and take goods, services, and people.
Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the town, the railroad was built several miles to the south through other towns. Without this vital transportation, the town began to decline.
Today, only a handful of families still live in the unincorporated village. Sadly, there are no businesses left, and many vacant lots.
The Visitor Center for the Nicodemus National Historic Site is located in the former township hall. Here, a well-done and informative video describes life in Nicodemus throughout its history. A few exhibits tell of the town’s heyday.
There are a few buildings around the town (which is only about 4 by 6 blocks in size) that are part of the National Park site. The only other one that was open to the public was the A.M.E Church, built in 1885. One old hotel remains, but is very rundown and on the verge of collapse.
There isn’t very much to actually see here. It is one of those sites where the history is the takeaway. Before my current adventures began, I never knew such a place even existed. There is a sadness, though, as one looks upon the remains of what once was a great experiment that ultimately failed.
Steve
