Submitted
NICODEMUS — Mark your calendars and register for the first annual Nicodemus Township History Bike Tour on October 12, 2024.
Nicodemus is a National Historic Site within the National Park Service and is the oldest remaining all-black town west of the Mississippi established at the end of Reconstruction.
This uniquely history-focused bike tour is one of a kind in the state and has two gravel routes that can be taken: a short (21 miles) or long (33 miles) option traversing through the beautiful rolling hills and prairie of the Nicodemus Township and Solomon Valley.
The tour highlights 14 history signs depicting school, cemetery sites, homesteads, emancipation celebration and baseball sites and the transportation history in the area. The long tour takes you through the neighboring historic French Canadian town of Damar where you can stop and visit the beautiful St Joseph's Catholic Church before proceeding back to Nicodemus to enjoy a meal, live music and the new film documenting this historical town, “Ellis Trail To Nicodemus.”
The ride will commence at 9 a.m. and all riders will begin in Nicodemus.
Cost of early registration (by September 27) is $60.00 and includes a T-shirt, meal, up to four SAG (support and gear, food) stops, music and a viewing in the Township Hall of the the documentary illustrating the first settlers arriving in Nicodemus. Early registration ensures a T-shirt.
Bikers can register after September 27 but cost will increase to $70.00.
To learn more about the ride and our history check us out and follow us on our Nicodemus Historical Society’s Facebook page. Interested riders should register via the Nicodemus Historical Society’s website at nicodemushistoricalsociety.com.