African-Americans , both enslaved and free , built the city of Charleston . Nicodemus , Kansas , is oldest surviving African-American town west of the Mississippi . Comment: The first black person to live in a white neighborhood was born there ( or at least moved here ).
African-Americans , both enslaved and free , built the city of Charleston . Nicodemus , Kansas , is oldest surviving African-American town west of the Mississippi . St. Helena Island , in South Carolina , was a safe haven for freed people as early as 1862 .