Fort Nelson (Kentucky)

{{about||other places with this name|Fort Nelson (disambiguation)|Camp Nelson in Jessamine County, Kentucky|Camp Nelson National Cemetery|and|Camp Nelson National Monument}}

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Fort Nelson, built in 1781 by troops under George Rogers Clark including Captain Richard Chenoweth, was the second on-shore fort on the Ohio River in the area of what is now downtown Louisville, Kentucky. Fort-on-Shore, the downriver and first on-shore fort, had proved to be insufficient barely three years after it was established. In response to continuing attacks from Native Americans and the threat of British attacks during the Revolutionary War, Fort Nelson was constructed between what is currently Main Street and the river, with its main gate near Seventh Street. It was named after Thomas Nelson Jr., then the governor of Virginia. (Kentucky was part of Virginia at the time.)

The fort was used as a courthouse and jail until one was built. The fort was garrisoned until the building of Fort Finney across the river at the site of what is today Jeffersonville, Indiana about 1784. Ironically, the fort was built late in the Revolutionary War when the need for it had almost disappeared. By the late 1780s there were reports that the fort had been abandoned and was in poor condition.{{citation|title=There used to be a fort at Fort Nelson Park: The complete history of West Main Street's pocket park|url=https://brokensidewalk.com/2015/fort-nelson-park-history/|first=Branden|last=Klayko|date=February 23, 2015|work=Broken Sidewalk}}

Fort Nelson Park stands in the vicinity today, a pocket park housing a granite monument commemorating the fort.