Nelson, California

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Durham census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95965. The Survey maps it on the Nelson quadrangle. It stands 121 feet above sea level.

Nelson within Butte County

Then and now

1891 to 1980

The same ground, surveyed 89 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Nelson, surveyed 1980

Topographic sheet of Nelson, surveyed 1891

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 27 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

1891 USGS Chico quadrangle1:125000
1893 USGS Chico quadrangle1:125000
1895 USGS Chico quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
1912 USGS Nelson quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
1948 USGS Nelson quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
1949 USGS Chico quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
1950 USGS Nelson quadrangle1:24000
1958 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
1960 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000
1980 USGS Chico quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings

Fires near this place

153 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 153 fires within 5 miles of Nelson between 1992 and 2019, burning about 1,692 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 4 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Equipment and vehicle use	62
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	51
Debris and open burning	32
Arson/incendiarism	4
Smoking	2
Natural	1
Misuse of fire by a minor	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
6 September 1994	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Butte Unit	DURNELL
4 September 1997	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Butte Unit	WEIR
4 September 1992	Debris and open burning	2.0 acres	Butte Unit	DURNELL
30 September 2016	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection	NELSON
30 September 1996	Debris and open burning	5.0 acres	Butte Unit	NELSON
29 September 2002	Equipment and vehicle use	1.0 acres	Butte Unit	99
29 September 2002	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Butte Unit	RICHVALE
29 September 1999	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Butte Unit	LINDBERG

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Butte County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Nelson: 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Central Sand and Gravel Plant	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown

Every working recorded in Butte County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Blavo	2.2 miles	26
Ramada	2.9 miles	26
Esquon	3.7 miles	27
Richvale	4.2 miles	22
Shippee	4.2 miles	26
Eskini (historical)	6.6 miles	28
Durham	6.7 miles	28
Oroville Junction	6.8 miles	26

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Nelson	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q6990310	The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1659208. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.