NELSONVILLE, a city of Athens county, Ohio, U.S.A., on the Hocking river, 62 m. S.E. of Columbus. Pop.(1890) 4558, (1900) 5421, including 328 foreign-born and 204 negroes; (1910) 6082. Nelsonville is served by the Hocking Valley railway. The city is in one of the most productive coal sections of the state; there are large quantities of clay in the vicinity; and the principal industries are the mining and shipping of coal and the manufacture of fire-clay products. Nelsonville was settled in 1818 and was incorporated in 1838; it was named in honour of Elisha Nelson, who built the first house here.