Welcome to Nelson ...

Nelson is primarily located in Durham County<1>. A portion of Nelson extends into Wake County.

The location of Nelson has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Nelson, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1888.

Nelson is 410 feet [125 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Nelson lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Telephone area codes for Nelson: (919) and (984)<4>

Communities Also Named Nelson ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 52 communities that are also named Nelson - they are located in Alabama (3), Arizona (2), Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho (3), Illinois (2), Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (2), Kentucky (3), Louisiana, Manitoba, Maryland (2), Michigan (2), Minnesota, Missouri, Montana (2), Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (2), Ohio (2), Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia (2), Washington (2), West Virginia and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Nelson.

Communities near Nelson ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Nelson.

• Raleigh
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh
  • Raleigh is located in Wake County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 474,414 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raleigh <5>
• Durham
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durham
  • Durham is located in Durham County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 285,897 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Durham <5>
• Cary
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cary have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cary
  • Cary is located in Chatham County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 173,587 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cary <5>
• Apex
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Apex have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apex
  • Apex is located in Wake County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 64,388 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Apex <5>
• Chapel Hill
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
  • Chapel Hill is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 63,705 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chapel Hill <5>
• Wake Forest
  (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wake Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wake Forest
  • Wake Forest is located in Franklin County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 47,314 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wake Forest <5>
• Holly Springs
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
  • Holly Springs is located in Wake County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 39,882 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holly Springs <5>
• Garner
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
  • Garner is located in Wake County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 32,180 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garner <5>
• Morrisville
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morrisville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisville
  • Morrisville is located in Durham County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 30,495 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morrisville <5>
• Carrboro
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carrboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrboro
  • Carrboro is located in Orange County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,239 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carrboro <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Nelson. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Nelson.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Nelson. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Nelson.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Nelson. See our Newspapers Page for Nelson.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Nelson ...

Looking for more information about Nelson? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Nelson, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Nelson.

Adding Nelson to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Nelson in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Nelson was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Nelson post office opened in 1888.

We also found Nelson in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Nelson.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Nelson. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Durham County: www.co.durham.nc.us/

The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/