Nicodemus, Kansas
Nicodemus, Kansas, Township Maps [page
29][page 63]
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County landownership maps and atlases provide excellent
sources for studying the changes in black settlement patterns.
The first map shows the black township of Nicodemus, located in
Graham County, Kansas. The second map brings the township to scale.
On these maps important structures may be easily located, such
as the First Baptist Church, on Washington Street, block 4, lots
13 and 14.
Standard Atlas of Graham County, Kansas: Including
a Plat Book of the Villages, Cities and Townships, p.
29 Chicago: George A. Ogle Company, 1906 Map Prints
and Photographs Division (110a)
Standard Atlas of Graham County, Kansas: Including
a Plat Book of the Villages, Cities and Townships, p.
63 Chicago: George A. Ogle Company, 1906 Map Prints
and Photographs Division (110b)
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Z.T. Fletcher, an early resident of Nicodemus, Kansas,
was the first postmaster, as well as the secretary of the Colony.
He also became the first entrepreneur in Nicodemus, having established
the St. Francis Hotel in 1880.
Z.T. Fletcher, an early resident of Nicodemus, Kansas Photographer
and date unknown Copyprint Historic American Building Survey
Field Records Prints
and Photographs Division (111)
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Jenny Smith Fletcher, the wife of Z. T. Fletcher,
was the first postmistress and school teacher in Nicodemus. She
was also one of the original charter members of the A.M.E. Church.
Mrs. Fletcher was the daughter of W. H. Smith, president of the
Colony and founder of Nicodemus.
Jenny Smith Fletcher, wife of Z.T. Fletcher, early resident
of Nicodemus, Kansas Photographer and date unknown Copyprint
Historic American Building Survey Field Records Prints
and Photograph Division (112)
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A good deal of intermarriage took place among the
first black colonists of Nicodemus township, including the Fletcher,
Williams, and Switzer families. Many of their descendants are still
living in the township today. Henry Williams, father of the first
black child to be born in Nicodemus, is pictured here with Reece
Switzer, another early resident.
Henry Williams and Reece Switzer were early residents of
Nicodemus, Kansas Copyprint Historic American Building Survey
Field Records Prints
and Photograph Division (113)
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The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) produced
a townsite plan of Nicodemus as it existed between 1877 and 1890,
with architectural drawings and photographs of forty-two of the
buildings. The locations of these buildings are shown on the plan,
along with their earliest known year of construction.
Townsite plan for Nicodemus, Kansas, 1877-1890 Photostat
Historic American Building Survey Field Records Prints
and Photograph Division (114)
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The Fletcher-Switzer House was an important focus
of activity in Nicodemus. The complex of houses and outbuildings
are some of the few remaining examples of early residential architecture
left in the townsite. The first owner of the site was Z. T. Fletcher,
secretary of the colony which arrived in Nicodemus in July 1877.
He and his wife lived in a dugout on the northwest corner of the
township, (ref. no. 35 on townsite plan). There he opened a post
office and she ran the school. In 1880, Fletcher built the St.
Frances Hotel (ref. no. 32) and a livery stable (ref. no. 31).
After rail service failed to materialize, Fletcher sold his town
lots to the original promoter, W. R. Hill, but continued to run
the businesses. The hotel reverted to Graham County for a time
but was brought back into the family in the 1920's by Fred Switzer,
a great-nephew raised by the Fletchers. When Switzer married Ora
Wellington in 1921, they made the hotel their home. Fred Switzer
and Ora Wellington's 1983 oral transcripts are in the HABS Collection
in the Prints and Photographs Division.
The Fletcher-Switzer House, 1983 Photomural from gelatin-silver
print Historic American Building Survey Field Records Prints
and Photographs Division (115)
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The First Baptist Church of Nicodemus was organized
approximately nine months after the first black settlers arrived
on the Kansas prairie land. In 1879, under the Reverend Hickman,
a sod structure was partially built over a dugout, just north of
the existing stucco and limestone structure. By 1880, a small,
one- room, stone sanctuary had been erected at the same site. This
structure evolved from limestone to stucco, and in 1975, a new
brick sanctuary was built.
The First Baptist Church, Nicodemus, Kansas, 1943 William
J. Belleau, Photographer Photomural from gelatin-silver print
Historic American Building Survey Field Records Prints
and Photographs Division (116)
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Aerial photography has been long used for measurements
in map- making and surveying. A good early example is this aerial
view of the Nicodemus townsite, taken in 1953.
"Aerial view of Nicodemus from the Northeast," 1953 Photomural
from gelatin-silver print Historic American Building Survey
Field Records Prints
and Photographs Division (117) |
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