Nelson, Georgia
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Nelson-Tate-Marble Hill census division. It lies in ZIP code area 30107. It stands on Fourmile Creek. The Survey maps it on the Nelson quadrangle. 1,145 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,237 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresNelson fell from 1,314 to 1,145 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,314 | |
| 2020 | 1,145 | -169 (-13%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 20 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1890 USGS Suwanee quadrangle1:125000
- 1894 USGS Suwanee quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1926 USGS Tate quadrangle1:62500
- 1928 USGS Tate quadrangle1:62500
- 1955 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Nelson quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1981 USGS Cartersville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1997 USGS Nelson quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
439 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 439 fires within 5 miles of Nelson between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,808 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 173 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 173 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 173 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 26 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 25 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 12 |
| Smoking | 10 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 10 |
| Natural | 8 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2002 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | FY2003-PICKENS-017 |
| 8 September 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | FY2003-CHEROKEE-007 |
| 8 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | FY2003-PICKENS-016 |
| 5 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.2 acres | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | 1.5 acres | Georgia Forestry Commission | FY2011-CHEROKEE-004 |
| 30 September 2007 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2.3 acres | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 42 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 42 workings within 5 miles of Nelson: 18 past producers, 14 prospects, 6 occurrences, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Mica, Marble, Dimension, Iron, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charcoal Quarry | Flagstone | Past Producer | ||
| Burty No.1 | Gold | Past Producer | Stream Placer | |
| Cochran Mine | Mica, Beryllium | Past Producer | ||
| Denson Mines | Mica, Beryllium | Past Producer | ||
| Richards | Gold | Prospect | Placer | |
| Calcium Products Div. Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Nelson Marble Prospect | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| New York Mine | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Unnamed Marble Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Marble Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
11 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Nelson in 11 storm reports between 2001 and 2026: 6 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 tornado, 1 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2011 | Tornado (EF1) | Nelson | $3,000,000 | The Pickens County Emergency Management Director confirmed that the EF1 tornado, which originally touched down in far southern Cherokee county just west of Woodstock and continued on a north-northeastward track across eastern Cherokee county, entered Pickens county at the city of Nelson. Damage in Pickens county remained consistent with an EF1 rating. From here, the tornado continued north-northeast to just past Marble Hill before finally lifting. Within Pickens county the tornado had a path length of approximately five miles with a maximum path width of 220 yards or 1/8 mile. Eleven homes were damaged along the path of the tornado within Pickens county. One of these homes was completely removed from its foundation and destroyed. Four other homes suffered major damage, three with moderate damage, and the remaining three minor damage. The majority of this damage was in the Marble Hill community. In addition, three structures at the Emory Marble Plant in Marble Hill suffered major damage. Dozens of medium to large-sized trees, including several large oak trees, were downed along the path of the tornado. Several roads were completely blocked as a result, including a portion of Georgia Highway 53 between Tate and Marble Hill.||[09/05/11: Tornado #1, County #2-2, EF1, Cherokee-Pickens, 2011:025]. |
| May 2013 | Lightning | Nelson | $60,000 | The Pickens County Emergency Manager reported that a house was partially burned down due to lightning. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nelson | $3,000 | Several reports of trees and powerlines down between Tate and Nelson. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nelson | $2,000 | Trees down and power pole snapped near intersection of Baker Street and Kennesaw Avenue. |
| March 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nelson | $1,000 | The emergency manager relayed a report of a tree and powerlines down 1.0 n of nelson. |
| March 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nelson | $1,000 | The emergency manager relayed a report of a tree and powerlines down 1.5 miles north of nelson. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nelson | $1,000 | Tree down near Fairview Rd along hwy 575. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nelson | $1,000 | The Pickens County 911 Center reported a tree blown down on Kerry Drive southeast of Jasper. |
| May 2011 | Hail | Nelson | - | An amateur radio operator relayed a report of penny-sized hail in the far southeastern part of the county near the Cherokee county line. |
| July 2002 | Hail | Nelson | - | The public reported dime size hail. |
| June 2001 | Hail | Nelson | - | The public reported nickel size hail. |
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.
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 Q2239887 | 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 319244. 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.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.










