Going Home to Nicodemus, by Daniel Chu.

I am really enjoying the book, Going Home to Nicodemus, by Daniel Chu. The promoters really DID STRETCH THE TRUTH BOTH TIMES they promoted the town. The minister's wife cried when she saw the town. The railroad companies didn't want to invest in Nicodemus. They would get as far as a certain town and then stop. Then they'd decide to go a different route. Bogue township started as a camp for railroad laborers and developed into a rival town!

When both black and white communities were poor there was no racial injustice. However, when the white communities prospered prejudices started developing. Those prejudices developed into full out racial hatred. 

The town was started by emancipated slaves. I think many we're expecting some sort of already existing community. A mercantile, a church, a school... But the homes were dugouts. That first generation felt cheated. They worked hard for all they had. Never ending cycle of work just like Laura Ingalls Wilder on the frontier.  They made all their things. They hunted, fished and gardened. THEY SURVIVED.