BlockBefore

Nelson, Nevada

29 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Clark census division. It lies in ZIP code area 89046. It lies near Copper Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Nelson quadrangle. 22 people lived here at the 2020 count.

Nelson within Clark County

Population over time

2 figures

Nelson fell from 37 to 22 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.

YearPeople Change
201037
202022-15 (-41%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 29 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.

Fires near this place

10 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Nelson between 1994 and 2016, burning about 2 acres in total. 2 started naturally. None was 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/undetermined7
Natural2
Equipment and vehicle use1

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

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
24 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthern Nevada District OfficeHWY 165
20 September 1994Natural1.0 acresSouthern Nevada District OfficeKNOB HILL
24 August 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthern Nevada District OfficeNELSON
23 August 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthern Nevada District OfficeTECHATTICUP
20 August 2014Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSouthern Nevada District OfficeAZTEC
17 August 1996Naturalunder an acreSouthern Nevada District OfficeCRAYTON
5 July 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthern Nevada District OfficeCCFD 3
10 July 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthern Nevada District OfficeDITCH

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Clark County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 59 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 59 workings within 5 miles of Nelson: 33 past producers, 12 prospects, 10 occurrences, 2 unknowns. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Silver, Gold, Gold, Silver. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Belmont-Phoenix MineSilver, Gold, Lead, CopperPast ProducerVein
Belmont-Phoenix MineSilver, Copper, Gold, LeadPast Producer1940
Buster ClaimCopper, GoldOccurrenceVein
Combination MineGold, Silver, Zinc, Lead, CopperPast Producer
Cottonwood Iron ClaimIronOccurrence
Eldorado DistrictGold, Silver, ZincProducer1857, 1861
Eldorado Gold PropertySilver, Gold, Zinc, Lead, CopperPast Producer1857, 1863, 1970
Eldorado Rover Mining Co.Gold, Lead, Copper, Zinc, SilverPast Producer
Golden Empire MineGold, Silver, Lead, CopperPast Producer
Jubilee MineGold, Lead, Zinc, Silver, CopperPast Producer

Every working recorded in Clark County

Storms near this place

15 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Nelson in 15 storm reports between 1998 and 2022: 12 flash flood, 1 hail, 1 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2013Flash FloodNelson$100,000Highway 165 was washed out just past the town of Nelson, with 14 cars stranded beyond the washout. The debris flow down the canyon was 100 feet wide and six feet deep. A public bathroom structure was filled halfway with mud.
November 2019Flash FloodNelson$20,000Eagle Wash Road (a dirt road) was obliterated by flooding and will have to be resurfaced. Nelson Landing Turnaround will also have to be repaired.
July 1998Flash FloodNelson$15,000Flood waters washed out two access roads in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Eldorado Canyon and Aztec Wash roads were closed for a few weeks while debris was removed and repairs were made.
August 2016Flash FloodNelson$10,000Highway 95 was closed from mile marker 36 to 39, and Cottonwood Cove Road was damaged and closed by flooding.
August 2022Flash FloodNelson$5,000Highway 165 was closed from Highway 95 to Nelson due to flooding in multiple locations.
August 2018Flash FloodNelson$2,000Dirt berms were damaged, and rocks the size of basketballs were washed onto the road.
August 2015Flash FloodNelson$2,000Portions of Highway 165 were washed out between mile markers 11 and 13.
August 2014Flash FloodNelson$2,000Highway 165 was closed due to water and debris.
July 2011Flash FloodNelson$2,000Mud and rocks were across Highway 95 near mile marker 46.
July 2022Flash FloodNelson$1,000A video showed flooding on Hwy 95 south of the solar farms.
August 2022Flash FloodNelson$1,000Highway 95 was closed due to flooding.
September 2017Funnel CloudNelson-A funnel cloud was photographed between Searchlight and Nelson Landing.
August 2014Tornado (EF0)Nelson-A small tornado briefly touched down in open desert east of Highway 95 near the Nelsons Landing turn off.
May 2011HailNelson-Personnel at the Nevada Solar One power plant reported one inch hail.
August 2006Flash FloodNelson-Two inches of rain fell at Nelson Landing in about an hour. Four cars were stuck in mud on Placer Rd.

Every storm recorded in Clark 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.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Marie Camp0.4 miles29
Camp Duncan (historical)1.1 miles29
Lucky Jim Camp1.2 miles29
Camp Booth (historical)3.6 miles29
Eldorado Canyon (historical)6.0 miles32
Hills Camp (historical)8.1 miles32
Camp Dupont (historical)10.4 miles29
Copper Camp (historical)11.9 miles29

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 NelsonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3473162The 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 854542. 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.