County landownership maps and atlases provide excellent sources for
studying the changes in African-American settlement patterns. The first
map shows the African-American 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)
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)
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)
A good deal of intermarriage took place among the first African-American
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 African-American 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)
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)
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)
The First Baptist Church of Nicodemus was organized approximately nine
months after the first African-American 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)
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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