NICODEMUS – Nicodemus is growing – one tiny house at a time.

Although there were people interested in moving to Nicodemus, a town established by freed African American slaves during the Reconstruction Period following the Civil War, housing options were not available. Grant funding for the tiny homes project made possible construction of three affordable 500-square-foot single-family homes, with the third being constructed as a team project by employees of Home Depot in Hays.

In addition, two single-wide mobile homes have been placed in Nicodemus, and a third was expected. The houses are to be homes for a person with disabilities, three senior citizens, a certified caregiver and a senior citizen veteran, increasing the population from 15 people to 42.

The tiny homes have been constructed at a cost of $38,000 to $47,000 each.

Plans are being made to build a fourth house, which will be a two-bedroom micro home of 870 square feet. The Kansas State University College of Architecture, Planning and Design has assigned a graduate student to assist as part of his final project.

Five public buildings in Nicodemus — Township Hall, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, First Baptist Church, St. Francis Hotel and the Nicodemus schoolhouse – were designated the Nicodemus National Historic Site by an Act of Congress in 1996 to preserve the history of the town founded in 1877. Nicodemus was home to about 700 people at its peak, and it remains home to several descendants of original settlers.