Welcome to Nelson ...

Nelson is located in Shelby County<1>.

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

While we don't have a date for the founding of Nelson, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1857.

Nelson is 460 feet [140 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Nelson lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Telephone area codes for Nelson: (205) & (659)<4>

Communities Also Named Nelson ...

While we believe that this Nelson is located in Shelby County, we know of another 2 Alabama communities named Nelson. Those communities are located in the following counties: Chambers and Mobile County.

Beyond Alabama, there are 52 communities that are also named Nelson - they are located in 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), North Carolina, 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.

• Hoover
  (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoover
  • Hoover is located in Jefferson County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 85,959 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hoover <5>
• Alabaster
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alabaster have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alabaster
  • Alabaster is located in Shelby County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 33,701 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alabaster <5>
• Pelham
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pelham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
  • Pelham is located in Shelby County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,231 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pelham <5>
• Helena
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Helena have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
  • Helena is located in Shelby County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,374 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Helena <5>
• Calera
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calera
  • Calera is located in Shelby County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,248 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Calera <5>
• Chelsea
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsea
  • Chelsea is located in Shelby County
  • Estimated population in 2015: 12,059 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chelsea <5>
• Sylacauga
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylacauga
  • Sylacauga is located in Talladega County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,939 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sylacauga <5>
• Montevallo
  (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montevallo
  • Montevallo is located in Shelby County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,098 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montevallo <5>
• Childersburg
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childersburg
  • Childersburg is located in Talladega County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,781 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Childersburg <5>
• Indian Springs Village
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Springs Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs Village
  • Indian Springs Village is located in Shelby County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,628 people

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 1857.

We also found Nelson on a map titled Rand McNally Map of Alabama (1911).

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 Shelby County: www.shelbycountyalabama.com/

The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/