Legends of America has published an interesting retrospective of Nicodemus, Kansas, the only Western town founded by African Americans after the Civil War that still remains. Nicodemus was established by ex-slaves, who had fled the South seeking of place to restart their lives. Founded by a land developer from Indiana and an African American clergyman named W. H. Smith. The first settler was another clergyman, the Reverend Simon Roundtree.
The town printed circulars inviting African Americans from all over the US to come and settle in Nicodemus. Black refugees were open to settling in Kansa because they associated the state with the Underground Railroad and the Abolitionist John Brown. Nicodemus still stands today in Graham County.
