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Nelson Bar

Ghost town · Butte County, California

Oroville quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1942, 1:62,500)
Oroville quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1942, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Nelson Bar is a ghost town in Butte County, California. It is one of 37 former communities in Butte County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 3rd among the 58 California counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Nelson Bar as a historical populated place on the Cherokee topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 39.6957° N, 121.5614° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleCherokee
Elevation991 ft
Nearest living townYankee Hill, CA
Distance to it2.5 miles
GNIS feature ID1670285
Coordinates39.69572, -121.56136

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Nelson Bar is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Yankee Hill, CA (population 384), about 2.5 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 991 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Nelson Bar?

Nelson Bar is in Butte County, California, at 39.6957, -121.5614.

How many ghost towns are in Butte County?

Butte County, California has 37 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.