Nicodemus is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Graham County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14. The community was founded in 1877 and is named for the Biblical figure Nicodemus. The Nicodemus National Historic Site, commemorating the only remaining western town established by African Americans during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War, is in town. During the last weekend of July, former residents and their descendants return for celebrations and parades.

The settlement of Nicodemus was part of a greater movement of westward migration that occurred in the latter half of the 19th century. Several technological and cultural factors contributed to the growing trend of movement, enabling and encouraging new groups to move west. The Homestead Act of 1862 provided settlement opportunities for people of modest means. A person could claim a 160-acre plot provided they lived on and develop the land for a five-year period, after which it could be purchased. In addition, the expansion of the railroad network across the Great Plains increased both the accessibility and economic opportunity of developing settlements.

Kansas also had an appeal to African Americans living in the post-Civil War South. Kansas represented a land of freedom and opportunity due to the actions of John Brown and other abolitionists. Promoters such as Benjamin "Pap" Singleton encouraged African Americans to move to Kansas. Nicodemus would become a destination for these new migrants. Railroads and steamboats offered cheap passage for these early settlers. Eager to escape the persecution and poor living conditions of Reconstruction, thousands left the South and headed west seeking economic opportunity and a sense of freedom.

On April 18, 1877, a group of seven Kansans, six of whom were black, established the Nicodemus Town Company. African American W. H. Smith and W. R. Hill, an experienced white land speculator, served as the town's first president and treasurer, respectively. Most of the group consisted of former slaves from Kentucky in search of a new livelihood. The goal was to establish the first all-black settlement on the Great Plains. Two theories explain the choice of the name Nicodemus, one claiming the town was named after the biblical figure Nicodemus, the other holding that the town's name was inspired by the legendary account of an African prince taken into slavery who later purchased his freedom. The location of the town, chosen by Hill, was along the northern bank of the Solomon River, an area suitable for developing farming. The town itself was located on a 160-acre plot, of the 19,200 acres of the township, at large.

Smith and Hill made efforts to promote the town and attract new settlers. Publications describing the resources and benefits of moving to the area were mailed to prospective migrants across the South. Early promotional efforts were directed towards attracting people with enough money to develop the town. Residential lots cost $5 while commercial lots were $75. The promoters charged additional fees for establishing the settlers on the land. Efforts succeeded in bringing groups of colonists from Eastern Kansas and Kentucky, at one point the population reached about 600 people in 1878.

In 1878, John Wayne Niles served as the second president of the colony. The early settlers found life in Nicodemus to be challenging. Some people turned around after seeing the scarcity of resources by mid-1878. Most were very poor farmers who came without money and other provisions. Without proper tools and equipment, such as plows, wagons, and horses, farmers could not efficiently develop the rough land; some resorted to using hand tools to make improvised fields. A lack of timber forced settlers to build homes out of prairie sod. To earn money some people collected and sold Buffalo bones found on the plains; others ventured miles away to work for the railroads. In response to the hardships, townsfolk reached out to other communities, private charities, and even the Native American Osage tribe.

New groups of settlers arrived in Nicodemus in 1878–79 from Kentucky and Mississippi. Unlike the early migrants, they had the resources necessary to develop and cultivate the farmland; they came with the horse teams, plows, other farm equipment, and money that the early settlers did not have. John W. Niles, a leader in the charity movement, replaced Smith as the president of the town company. Under Niles' leadership, a decision was made to stop seeking charity in order to encourage the ideas of industry and self-sufficiency. Additionally, the town did not want to become a destination of the Exodusters, a migration of thousands of poor black farmers into Kansas. They feared that a mass influx of poor farmers would be harmful to the community.

Soon the town began to grow and businesses became profitable; a hotel and two stores were established and a school and three churches were built. Social organizations such as the Grand Independent Benevolent Society of Kansans and Missouri put on dances and other celebrations for the benefit of the town. One such event was the annual celebration of England's emancipation of slavery in the West Indies. In 1880, the election to determine the Graham County seat was held in Nicodemus, in which the town was defeated in favor of Millbrook.