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. 

Nicodemus

Today I picked up the book GOING HOME TO NICODEMUS. INTERESTING HISTORY! It explains a lot about how African-Americans were first talked into going to Nicodemus and what they saw there. Told about the promised land, and seeing the promised land were two totally different experiences. The first pioneers arrived to see the first homes were dugouts. At least one woman cried. 

Also, how could a government give people free or low cost property when all they do is show up? The rest of the pioneers had to improve the land. How much was truthful, a stretch of the truth, or an outright lie?! I'll keep you posted as I read the book. 

Ghost Towns originally posted 10.07.13

http://villageofthehomeless.blogspot.com/2013/10/ghost-towns.html

"Marysville, NE (Seward County)postal and trade routes changed and settlement abandoned. Left is church and cemetery. (www.roadsidethoughts.com; www.ghosttowns.com)

Richland, KS (Wikipedia; www.kansasmemory.org) 

One more city not on the map but an honorable mention; Nicodemus, Kansas. Mrs. Wilder goes on to mention how many colored people they were seeing in Kansas. One city, that they did not pass by is Nicodemus. It is one of the longest surviving African-American originated cities in America. Currently no one lives there on a permanent basis. However, reunion festivals are held for former residents. There is a book about the city titled "Going Home to Nicodemus"

P.S. 

I google mapped Nicodemus and Beatrice Kansas. Nicodemus is Way Out of the way; too far west from the road they took."