Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Nelsonville, Ohio

21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 2002. It stands in York Township. It lies in ZIP code area 45764. It stands on Dorr Run. The Survey maps it on the Nelsonville quadrangle. 4,612 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 679 feet above sea level.

Nelsonville within Athens County

Population over time

2 figures

Nelsonville fell from 5,392 to 4,612 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. 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	5,392
2020	4,612	-780 (-14%)

Then and now

1903 to 2002

The same ground, surveyed 99 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Nelsonville, surveyed 2002

Topographic sheet of Nelsonville, surveyed 1903

Compare 1903 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

21 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 nearby

152 since 1993

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 152 fires within 5 miles of Nelsonville between 1993 and 2020, burning about 276 acres in total. 2 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
Recreation and ceremony	76
Debris and open burning	36
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	10
Equipment and vehicle use	9
Power generation/transmission/distribution	8
Other causes	6
Arson/incendiarism	4
Natural	2
Smoking	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
8 September 2007	Recreation and ceremony	1.0 acres	Wayne National Forest	TRAIL HEAD 5 FIRE
7 September 2002	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office	not named
4 September 2006	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Wayne National Forest	PINE FIRE
4 September 2006	Recreation and ceremony	1.0 acres	Wayne National Forest	HIDEWAY FIRE
4 September 2006	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Wayne National Forest	BOX FIRE
3 September 2017	Power generation/transmission/distribution	under an acre	Wayne National Forest	180
28 September 2019	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Wayne National Forest	BYERS RD
26 September 2020	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Wayne National Forest	SNAKE HOLLOW

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Athens County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 237 shown

Museums hold 237 specimens collected within 10 miles of Nelsonville between 1898 and 1975: 178 Animalia, 31 Plantae, 27 Fungi, 1 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. D. Selby, Campbell, L. W. (Louis W.), Clifford M Wetmore and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Sporobolus vaginiflorus (Torr. ex A.Gray) Alph.Wood	1898	Selby, A.D.	Palos
Dichanthelium acuminatum (Sw.) Gould & C.A.Clark	1899	Selby, A.D.	Palos
Diospyros virginiana L.	1899	A. D. Selby	Marshfield
Salix humilis var. tristis (Aiton) Griggs	1899	Selby, A.D.	Marshfield
Scirpus polyphyllus Vahl	1899	Selby, A.D.	Palos
Tephrosia virginiana (L.) Pers.	1899	Selby, A.D.	Marshfield
Neodiprion Rohwer, 1918	1915	not recorded
Bombus impatiens Cresson, 1863	1916	not recorded
Uromyces appendiculatus (Pers.) Unger	1919	L. Bonar	Glouster
Desmognathus fuscus (Rafinesque, 1820)	1929	Hicks, L. E. (Lawrence E.) & Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard)	near Buchtel, Athens Co., Ohio
Plethodon cinereus (Green, 1818)	1929	Hicks, L. E. (Lawrence E.) & Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard)	near Buchtel, Athens Co., Ohio
Synandra hispidula (Michx.) Britton	1939	F. Bartley	Along Ohio Brush Creek near Jacksonville

All 237 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

8 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Nelsonville: 5 past producers, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Coal. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Nutter Bros Pit	Clay, Coal	Producer
Nutter Brothers Clay Pit	Clay	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Nutter Brothers Clay Pit	Clay	Past Producer
Kimberly Plant	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Kimberly Plant	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Lake Hope Asphalt S&G Inc	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Nelsonville Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Nelsonville Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Athens County

Storms nearby

41 since 1994

The National Weather Service names Nelsonville in 41 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 18 thunderstorm wind, 14 hail, 5 flash flood, 3 flood. The reports record 1 death. 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
May 2012	Flash Flood	Nelsonville	1 killed, $250,000	Small streams across the northern portion of the county flooded. \|\|An elderly couple was driving home along Linscott Run. This is a small tributary to Federal Creek near Amesville. Close to home, the husband decided to stop his vehicle and wait out some high water. Their vehicle became surrounded by rising water. The couple made an attempt to walk to nearby higher ground. The wife was using a walker due to recent hip surgery. She slipped and the husband could not hold on to her. The current swept her away. The fire department located her body around dawn on the 5th, about a half mile downstream. The husband was helped to safety by neighbors using a garden hose. Route 550 was also flooded in Amesville. \|\|Several streets in Nelsonville were flooded including along Dorr Run and Pleasant View Road. Large dump rocks, used in the bypass construction, were even moved by the water. A wall to a garage was knocked over by the water. A house foundation was damaged.\|\|A vehicle was flooded along Margaret Creek near Albany. The occupants were unhurt at a nearby home when the local fire department arrived.
June 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$2,500,000	Numerous trees or large branches fell across the county. Nearly 24,000 customers lost electricity. Damage assessment included 1 home destroyed, 4 with major damage, and 3 with minor damage across the county. The public infrastructure damage assessment was around $580,000.
April 2002	Hail	Nelsonville	$200,000	no account filed
April 2011	Flood	Nelsonville	$50,000	Numerous small streams overflowed and blocked roads during the daylight hours on the 19th. The Hocking River then caused flooding into the 21st. Damage was mainly to roads and a few culverts.
June 2009	Flash Flood	Nelsonville	$50,000	Rain amounts of 2 to 2.5 inches fell in about 2 hours. A spotter reported 1.6 inches in an hour. The 24 hour rain total was 3.5 inches at Nelsonville. The town of Athens was just south of the heaviest rain with a 24 hour rain total of 1.8 inches. Small streams flooded and closed several roads. The stream gauge at Doanville on the lower reaches of Monday Creek rose 10 to 11 feet in a few hours.
June 2015	Flash Flood	Nelsonville	$10,000	Roads were flooded and closed, including State Route 356, 56, and 690. Rockcamp Creek flooded near Mineral. No dwellings were flooded.
November 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$10,000	Several trees were blown down on Edward Street.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$10,000	Trees and large branches were knocked down. One tree fell across a house.
July 2002	Flash Flood	Nelsonville	$10,000	Rains of 2 to 3.5 inches fell in less than 3 hours, in a northwest to southeast corridor, along the Hocking River Valley. An automatic gauge south of Nelsonville measured 3.5 inches of rain. In the city of Athens, 3.4 inches of rain was recorded. The Plains measured 3.1 inches. Streams flooded roads in such communities as Athens, The Plains, and Chauncey. The York Fire Department went to the aid of motorists stalled in water along township roads. No flooding of dwellings was known.
July 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$5,000	Multiple trees were knocked down around Nelsonville including on Diamond Brook Road and Old Route 33.
March 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$5,000	Several trees were blown down.
July 2011	Flash Flood	Nelsonville	$5,000	Around 1.5 inches of rain fell in less than an hour with the second cluster of storms, causing minor flash flooding. Several streets were flooded, but no dwellings were affected.
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$5,000	Trees were downed, some on power lines, at several locations.
April 2016	Hail	Nelsonville	$5,000	no account filed
March 2012	Hail	Nelsonville	$5,000	no account filed
April 2018	Flood	Nelsonville	$2,000	Several roads were flooded in Doanville, including Lang Road, Brady Road and Pancake Road due to high water on Monday Creek.\|\|Monday Creek at Doanville rose above its bankfull level of 14 feet very early on the 4th. It crested at 16.3 feet, just above its 16 foot moderate stage that afternoon, and returned to its banks just before noon on the 5th.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$2,000	A few trees were blown down near Nelsonville.
June 2018	Flood	Nelsonville	$2,000	Multiple roads were closed across Athens County due to high water. This included State Routes 13 and 685 near Glouster, and State Route 690 near Amesville.\|\|Monday Creek also flooded at Doanville, where the gage showed the creek spilled from its banks just before noon on the 22nd. The creek crested around 18.6 feet, or about 2.5 feet above its 16 foot bankfull level, late that night. It then returned to its banks by 4 PM on the 23rd.
August 2009	Hail	Nelsonville	$2,000	no account filed
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$1,500	Outside of Nelsonville, a tree, power lines and utility poles were blown down on Burr Oak Boulevard, shutting down the road for a period of time.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$1,000	In Nelsonville, a tree was blown down near East Columbus Street and another along Buchtel Road.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$1,000	Several trees were blown down near the city of Nelsonville.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$1,000	Trees were blown down in the city of Nelsonville.
August 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$1,000	Large branches were blown down along Oak Street.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$500	Downed trees were observed along Myers Street in Nelsonville.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	$500	A tree was blown down at the intersection of West Franklin Street and Madison Street in downtown Nelsonville.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	-	Trees fell onto power lines.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	-	Numerous trees were blown down along Minkers Run.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	-	Fallen trees knocked down power lines.
March 2012	Hail	Nelsonville	-	no account filed
October 2011	Heavy Rain	Nelsonville	-	no account filed
September 2010	Hail	Nelsonville	-	no account filed
August 2009	Hail	Nelsonville	-	no account filed
August 2009	Hail	Nelsonville	-	no account filed
February 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelsonville	-	no account filed
August 2007	Hail	Nelsonville	-	no account filed
May 2003	Hail	Nelsonville	-	no account filed
April 2002	Hail	Nelsonville	-	no account filed
May 1997	Hail	Nelsonville	-	no account filed
May 1997	Hail	Nelsonville	-	no account filed
July 1996	Hail	Nelsonville	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Athens 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
Bessemer	1.8 miles	21
East Clayton	2.1 miles	16
Kimberly	2.3 miles	21
Buchtel	2.7 miles	21
Doanville	2.7 miles	21
Connett	3.5 miles	16
New Floodwood	3.9 miles	21
Glen Ebon	4.3 miles	21

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 Nelsonville	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q998468	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 1076504. 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.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

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.