| Nelson, North Carolina | |
| Settlement Type: | Unincorporated community |
| Pushpin Map: | USA North Carolina |
| Pushpin Label: | Nelson |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within the state of North Carolina |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | North Carolina |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Durham |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Population As Of: | 2000 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Coordinates: | 35.8819°N -78.85°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP codes |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
Nelson was a community in Durham County, North Carolina, United States. The community was centered at the intersection of Miami Boulevard and North Carolina Highway 54. It was largely a farming community, with several tobacco and livestock farms as well as a tight knit family oriented community. Though still on the map, it has been all but erased by the growth surrounding the Research Triangle Park. All of the farms have been paved over and old farmhouses and barns torn down to accommodate the huge corporations and other business entities. A few of the older small homes are still there, as well as the Cedar Fork Baptist church, but the community itself essentially no longer exists.
The area eventually comprising Nelson was settled by English colonists as early as 1773.[1] Nelson originally formed as the Cedar Fork community, centered around the Cedar Fork Baptist Church, which was established in 1805. From 1860 to 1866 a post office operated there under the name of Cedar Fork, and in 1882 a post office operated under the name of Llewellyn. In 1880s, a small rail station was established along the North Carolina Railroad line in the area, and the post office was reestablished as Nelson in 1885. The post office was ordered closed in April 1915.[2] By 2010, the original community had been largely overtaken by urban development centering around the Research Triangle Park.