BlockBefore

Nelson, Wisconsin

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1932 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Nelson town. It lies in ZIP code area 54756. It stands on By Golly Creek. The Survey maps it on the Wabasha North quadrangle. 574 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 827 feet above sea level.

Nelson within Buffalo County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 16 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.

In the county-history sources

910 words on this township

History of Buffalo County, Wisconsin, published 1888 names this settlement in its chapter on Nelson Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

There are at present two postoffices in the town, Nelson and Misha Mokwa. The exact date of the establishment of Nelson post office I was unable to to learn, but as E. A. Warner was the first postmaster, it was not established before 1858 as he had come but a short time before. Nor can I give the exact date when it was transferred to Ed.Giebel, who at that time kept store near the old Farmers' Home Tavern. J. P. Butler, the present postmaster, was appointed July 28, 1886. The office is now kept in the village of Fairview near the railroad station of

Passage source: History of Buffalo County, Wisconsin, published 1888.

Besides this village there are now two others laid out in this town besides an addition. The first in point of time is Fairview, about half a mile northwest of Nelson station, the plat of which was recorded Sept. 5, 1884, in Vol. 33, page.

Passage source: History of Buffalo County, Wisconsin, published 1888.

The Village of Nelson is laid out adjacent to the station of the Burlington and Northern railroad. Misha Mokwa contains a gristmill, one store and one hotel besides other houses. Fairview has several saloons, one store and one blacksmith shop, Nelson one store, one hotel and two saloons, besides "warehouses, depot, coalmagazine, and, I think, the schoolhouse of Dist. No. 5 and a Catholic church, which is not yet completed.

Passage source: History of Buffalo County, Wisconsin, published 1888.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Nelson Town - it names this place 1 more 1 time.

Fires near this place

2 since 2018

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Nelson between 2018 and 2020, burning under an acre in total. None 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/undetermined2

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
17 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2021008
28 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2018007

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Buffalo County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 19 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 19 workings within 5 miles of Nelson: 8 occurrences, 7 past producers, 3 producers, 1 unknown. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone. 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
Own CrewsStoneUnknown
Buffalo Slough Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Deer Creek Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Lake Pepin Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Wabasha Pit & MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Winona S & G PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Center Creek Road Dolomite DepositStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence
Deer Creek Shale QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Dry Coulee Limestone DepositStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence
Freiheit QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Buffalo County

Storms near this place

39 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Nelson in 39 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 25 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 2 heavy rain. The reports record 2 injuries. 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
May 1996Thunderstorm WindNelson2 hurt, $85,000no account filed
August 2019HailNelson$30,000Egg sized hail fell near Nelson.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindNelson$30,000no account filed
July 2023Thunderstorm WindNelson$15,000Public reported fallen powerlines and power outages near Nelson.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindNelson$10,000no account filed
July 1997HailNelson$10,000no account filed
July 2021Thunderstorm WindNelson$2,000Signs were blown off a gas station near Nelson from an estimated 50 mph wind gust.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindNelson$2,000Trees were blown down between Alma and Nelson.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindNelson$1,000no account filed
July 2002Thunderstorm WindNelson$750no account filed
April 2026HailNelson-Local fire and rescue reported ping pong ball sized hail 2 miles northwest of Nelson.
May 2025HailNelson-A trained spotter reported quarter sized hail in Nelson.
June 2025HailNelson-The local fire department in Nelson reported half dollar sized hail 2 miles north-northwest of Nelson.
June 2025HailNelson-A trained spotter reported quarter sized hail near Nelson.
June 2025HailNelson-The local fire department in Nelson reported hail up to quarter size 2 miles northwest of Nelson.
August 2023HailNelson-A trained spotter reported nickel sized hail in Wabasha.
May 2022HailNelson-Quarter sized hail fell in Nelson.
July 2017Heavy RainNelson-In Nelson, 7 inches of rain fell.
August 2013HailNelson-Half dollar sized hail fell in Nelson.
September 2010Heavy RainNelson-The storm total rainfall amounted to 7.50 inches.
June 2008HailNelson-Penny size hail was reported.
August 2013HailNelson-no account filed
August 2013HailNelson-no account filed
May 2012HailNelson-no account filed
April 2011HailNelson-no account filed
April 2011HailNelson-no account filed
July 2008Thunderstorm WindNelson-no account filed
August 2006Thunderstorm WindNelson-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindNelson-no account filed
May 2004HailNelson-no account filed
July 2002Thunderstorm WindNelson-no account filed
May 2001HailNelson-no account filed
June 2001HailNelson-no account filed
June 2001HailNelson-no account filed
June 2001HailNelson-no account filed
June 1999HailNelson-no account filed
May 1998HailNelson-no account filed
March 1998HailNelson-no account filed
May 1996HailNelson-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Buffalo 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
Misha Mokwa5.3 miles16
Savoy (historical)7.3 miles13
Maxville7.7 miles13
Tell8.0 miles19
Urne8.2 miles19
Alma8.5 miles20
Modena11.5 miles19
Herold11.8 miles19

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 Q2511047The 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 1570152. 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.