Nicodemus National Historic Site
Kansas
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
6.5 h fully dark
Crowds
low
Open today
Open
closed Dec 25 – Dec 25; closed Jan 1 – Jan 1
Entrance
Free entry
Formerly enslaved African Americans left Kentucky at the end of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period to experience freedom in the "Promised Land" of Kansas. Nicodemus represents the involvement of African Americans in the homesteading movement across the Great Plains. It is the oldest remaining Black settlement west of the Mississippi River.
Activities
No entrance fee.
Hours & seasons
The Nicodemus Township Hall and visitor center is open year-round for five (5) days of the week, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Visitor center hours are 9 am to 5 pm central time. The grounds are open 24 hours a day. The visitor center will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year Day.
⚠ closed Dec 25 – Dec 25; closed Jan 1 – Jan 1
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 785-839-4233
✉ Nicodemus_Info@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
Typical crowds: low
Weather now: ⛅ Partly cloudy, 78°F
☁️ 87°/62°
☀️ 98°/68°
☁️ 110°/71°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
2%
Feb
4%
Mar
11%
Apr
16%
May
29%
Jun
32%
Jul
100%
Aug
17%
Sep
17%
Oct
13%
Nov
7%
Dec
5%
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Things to do
Park Ranger Programs · 0.6 mi · <br />
Picnicking at Nicodemus
Photography and Art
Visitor centers
Township Hall and Visitor Center
Accessibility
19 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on Nicodemus National Historic Site — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
People & stories
Figures tied to Nicodemus National Historic Site — each spans a cross-park journey.
Abraham Hall
— Black Homesteaders Project, Nicodemus, HomesteaderAlbert Fisher
— Black Homesteader Project, Black Homesteader, Homestead Act 1862Charles Page
— Black Homesteaders Project, Homestead Act Of 1862, Homestead ActDaniel Hickman
— Black Homesteaders Project, Homestead Act Of 1862, HomesteaderEdward P. McCabe
— African Amercan Heritage, Black History, African American HistoryJenny Fletcher
— Nicodemus National Historic Site, Nicodemus, African American HistoryNettie Craig Asberry
— African American History, Civil Rights, Women's RightsWilliam Kirtley
— Homesteader, Black Homesteaders Project, NicodemusPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Township Hall
🎫 Township Hall and Visitor Center
Places to see
Crossroads and Development
audio
Fairview District Orientation
audio
Fairview School
audio
First Baptist Church
audio
Highway 24-18 Junction Businesses
audio
Highway 24-18 Junction Orientation
audio
Historic Baseball Diamond
audio
Mt. Olive District Orientation
audio
Mt. Olive School
audio
Nicodemus A.M.E. Church
audio
Nicodemus Cemetery
audio
Nicodemus District Orientation
audioAudio & media
🎧
🎬
🖼
Learn more
The all-Black town of Nicodemus, Kansas, was named after the popular folk song "Wake Nicodemus!" by abolitionist and composer Henry Clay Work. The song's hopeful tale of an enslaved man named Nicodemus looking forward to emancipation connected it to the hopes of Nicodemus residents looking to embrace their freedom in western Kansas.
Homestead National Monument of America and Nicodemus National Historic Site are partnering with the University of Nebraska's Center for Great Plains Studies to discover and share the stories of African American homesteading colonies.
Thousands of African-Americans made their way to Kansas and other Western states after Reconstruction. The Homestead Act and other laws offered blacks the opportunity to escape the racism and oppression of the post-war South and become owners of their own tracts of private farmland. The large-scale black migration from the South to Kansas came to be known as the "Great Exodus," and those participating in it were called "exodusters."
Nicodemus National Historic Site is settled within the open landscape of the Great Plains of western Kansas. While it may appear as a simple rural community, Nicodemus is a symbol for the strength, determination, and endurance of many African American communities. The town took shape at the end of the Civil War, as former slaves relocated from the south. The structures that served as community pillars and agricultural surroundings continue to define Nicodemus.
Catch up on Nicodemus accomplishments in 2025 and learn what we have planned for 2026!
This article is for the Nicodemus Newsletter, January of 2024. It is the information provided in the printed copy we have available in the Township Hall.
This is the March 2025 edition of Nicodemus National Historic Site's newsletter, highlighting 2024 accomplishments and events and sharing plans for 2025.
During Reconstruction, the Federal government pursued a program of political, social, and economic restructuring across the South-including an attempt to accord legal equality and political power to former slaves. Reconstruction became a struggle over the meaning of freedom, with former slaves, former slaveholders and Northerners adopting divergent definitions. Faced with increasing opposition by white Southerners and some Northerners, however, the government abandoned effor
How Nicodemus National Historic Site connects
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