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 his 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
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St. Francis Hotel
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African Methodist Episcopal Church
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Nicodemus Township School
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First Baptist Church
Read more about this topic: Nicodemus National Historic Site
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