Nelson, Kentucky
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1909 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Central City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 42330. It lies near Sandhill. The Survey maps it on the Central City East quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 15 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.
- 1909 USGS Central City quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS Central City East quadrangle1:24000
- 1954 USGS Evansville quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Evansville quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Evansville quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1963 USGS Central City East quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1983 USGS Madisonville quadrangle1:100000
- 1997 USGS Central City East quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
45 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 45 fires within 5 miles of Nelson between 1998 and 2020, burning about 2,193 acres in total. None started naturally. 8 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 19 |
| Debris and open burning | 12 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 13 September 2002 | Debris and open burning | 20 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 11 September 2002 | Debris and open burning | 20 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 11 September 2002 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 31 August 2010 | Debris and open burning | 265 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | NELSON CREEK 2 |
| 26 August 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 17 August 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 16 August 2007 | Debris and open burning | 570 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | NORTH WIND |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
3 since 2012Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Nelson in 3 storm reports between 2012 and 2025: 2 flood, 1 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2025 | Flood | Nelson | $1,210,000 | Flash flooding from the evening of the 15th transitioned to areal flooding early on the 16th. Highway 1379 remained flooded, as did many other county roads from Central City to Powderly to Greenville. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Nelson | - | Kentucky 1379 was closed between the 0 and 3 mile markers due to flooding. |
| April 2012 | Hail | Nelson | - | no account filed |
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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martwick | 1.4 miles | 15 | |
| Sunnyside (historical) | 2.5 miles | 15 | |
| Brownie (historical) | 2.6 miles | 15 | |
| Spring Ridge (historical) | 3.9 miles | 15 | |
| Central City | 4.6 miles | 15 | |
| South Carrollton | 4.9 miles | 16 | |
| Cedardale (historical) | 4.9 miles | 15 | |
| Drake (historical) | 5.0 miles | 15 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 499250. 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.
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.







