Theodore Roosevelt Presidential LibraryPublic Lands Directory

Alerts and conditions

All clear. The managing agency, the National Weather Service and wildfire reporting show no current alerts.

Overview

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.

From the National Park Service

History

The designation history for this site (every law, proclamation and order, and the administration behind each) is being researched and checked by the Library’s historians.

What to see and do

Activities

  • Guided Tours
  • Self-Guided Tours - Walking
  • Self-Guided Tours - Auto
  • Junior Ranger Program
  • Park Film

Browse hiking, biking and paddling routes on AllTrails

Plan your visit

Hours

Park Hours: 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.

Getting there

Nicodemus National Historic Site is located in northwestern Kansas on Highway 24 between Hill City and Stockton.

Visitor centers

Weather

Northwest Kansas has a four-season climate typified by long, hot summers, cold winters, short spring and fall seasons, and a nearly constant breeze. Humidity is relatively low compared to the eastern portion of the state. Afternoon thunderstorms with lightning, hail, and gusty winds frequently occur during the spring and summer. Tornados are possible but are less common in Kansas than they are in several other states. Snow accumulation from winter blizzards occasionally causes site to close.

Phone: 785-839-4233

Whose lands these are

These lands are the ancestral and present-day homelands of Native nations. A section on whose lands these are is being prepared with tribal review. In the meantime, Native Land Digital offers a starting point.

Photos

A limestone brick building with grass and trees around it
Nicodemus Township Hall · NPS Photo/ Dan Cox
A limestone stucco building on a street corner
Old First Baptist Church · NPS Photo/ Dan Cox
A wooden building painted white
School District Number 1 · NPS Photo/ Dan Cox
A stucco building painted white with a green wagon out front.
African Methodist Episcopal Church · NPS Photo/ Valerie Blubaugh
A white building with a green metal bar fence around it
St Francis Hotel · NPS Photo

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