Nelsonville is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Austin County Austin County is a rural, agricultural dominated county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,167. Its seat is Bellville. The county and region was settled primarily by German emigrants in the 1800s. Austi ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. According to the

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

, the community had a population of 110 in 2000. It is located within the

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the Office of Management and Budget, United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical ...

metropolitan area.

History

Nelsonville was settled in the 1850s, with one being Edward Daughtry in 1855; it was named for D. D. Nelson, who opened a store in the community after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

ended. Isaac Lewis also managed a store,

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

and

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...

at the same time. The town's first settlers were primarily

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n immigrants who arrived in the late 1860s to the early 1870s and bought land grants. Nelsonville's

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

opened in 1872; postmaster R. W. Thompson also served as the town physician. The post office was closed in 1909. The community extended northwest through a watershed that separated the drainage of the east and west forks of Mill Creek toward

Industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

. It also had a church, three steam-powered mills and gins, and 100 residents. It went up to 158 in 1900. It returned to 100 in the early 1930s. It had six businesses in 1936, but most of those closed not long after. It is now a farm community, with 110 residents in the early 1990s. As of 2000, Nelsonville had a population of 110. Most of the community's residents came from the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and a local church serves as the community's centerpiece.

Geography

Nelsonville is situated at the intersection of SH 159 and FM 2502. The county seat at Bellville is east-southeast on SH 159, while Industry is west on the same highway. Bleiblerville is to the northwest on FM 2502. Farm to Market Road 2754 (FM 2754) crosses FM 2502 at right angles at a distance of northwest of Nelsonville. Other roads radiating from the community are Shupak Road to the northeast and Skalak Road to the south. Between Nelsonville and Bellville, SH 159 is also known as Old Nelsonville Road while it is named Fordtran Boulevard between Nelsonville and Industry. The Nelsonville Brethren Church is located on Nelsonville Church Road which forms a triangle with SH 159 and FM 2502. The Roesler House, which is located in the community, is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. With photos.

Education

Nelsonville had its own school in 1885. Today, the community is served by the

Bellville Independent School District Bellville Independent School District is a public school district based in Bellville, Texas (USA). In addition to Bellville, the district also serves the city of Industry as well as rural areas in northern Austin County. Finances As of the 2 ...

Notable person

* Leo Meyer, politician who married Margaret Lewis and became mayor of Bellville.Lovett, John R. "Leo Meyer: Texas and Oklahoma Settler and politician" Western States Jewish History, Vo. XXVI, No. 1, Oct. 1993, pp. 55-64
/ref>

References

{{authority control Czech-American culture in Texas Unincorporated communities in Austin County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas