Nicodemus is a small town located in the prairies of northwest Kansas. It is the oldest and only remaining Black settlement west of the Mississippi. It was established in 1877 during the Reconstruction Period following the Civil War when pioneers from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi came to seek out homelands. “These folks were ex-slaves, removed from slavery about 13-14 years, had the opportunity to come out here and be landowners and they took that chance,” said Luecreasea Horne, Nicodemus Park Service educational technician and sixth-generation descendant. “The thought of them risking and taking that chance to come out to northwestern Kansas where they knew nothing about it, it just gives me a sense of pride.”
Source: KSN-TV
