Nelson

History

The area known as Nelson was originally called Eldorado in 1775, by the Spaniards who made the original discoveries of gold in the area that is now Eldorado Canyon. The town was the site of one of the first major gold strikes in Nevada and one of the biggest mining booms in state history. Gold and silver were discovered here around 1859. The rush to the canyon began in 1861, several mining camps were established in the canyon, and a steamboat landing at the mouth of the canyon on the Colorado River, called Colorado City. In its heyday, the area established a reputation for being rough and lawless. During the American Civil War, deserters from both the Union and Confederate armies would wander there, hoping that such an isolated location would be the last place military authorities would look for them. Among the early mines established was the notorious Techatticup Mine in the middle of the canyon. Labor disputes, and disagreements over ownership and management, resulted in wanton killings so frequent as to be routine and ordinary. Despite the sinister reputation of the mine, it along with others in the town produced several million dollars in gold, silver, copper and lead. The mines in the canyon were active from about 1858 until 1945. The community called Nelson was named for Charles Nelson, a camp leader who was slain in his home, along with four other people, in 1897 by the renegade Indian, Avote. Between 1901 and 1905, the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad was built across southern Nevada, through Las Vegas, to Daggett, California where it connected to the AT&SF, and the complete Salt Lake–Los Angeles line was opened on May 1, 1905. Because this nearby railhead ended the need for steamboats at Eldorado Canyon, the landing and the mill there were…

Geography

Nelson is located along Nevada State Route 165, about southeast of its junction with U.S. Route 95. Route 165 continues east to a dead end at Nelsons Landing on the Colorado River, by water north of Cottonwood Cove on Lake Mojave. Nelson is about from Boulder City by road.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Larrea tridentata (DC.) Coult.

  Larrea tridentata (DC.) Coult. · Magnoliopsida
  468
• Mohave yucca

  Yucca schidigera Roezl ex Ortgies · Liliopsida
  232
• Le Conte barrel cactus

  Ferocactus cylindraceus (Engelm.) Orcutt · Magnoliopsida
  228
• Woodbury beaver-tail cactus

  Opuntia basilaris Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow · Magnoliopsida
  182
• ground cholla

  Cylindropuntia echinocarpa (Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow) F.M.Knuth · Magnoliopsida
  116
• bighorn sheep

  Ovis canadensis Shaw, 1804 · Mammalia
  115
• buckhorn cholla

  Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa (Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow) F.M.Knuth · Magnoliopsida
  93
• Texas-mimosa

  Senegalia greggii (A.Gray) Britton & Rose · Magnoliopsida
  85

Most recent

• M 3.75 — 2026-06-04
  11 km NW of Summerlin South, Nevada
• M 2.64 — 2025-10-07
  20 km SW of Primm, NV
• M 3.3 — 2025-06-05
  24 km ENE of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
• M 2.6 — 2024-03-07
  14 km ENE of Boulder City, Nevada
• M 2.6 — 2023-07-26
  32 km SSE of Moapa Valley, Nevada
• M 2.5 — 2022-09-30
  Nevada