Nelson Lake is a reservoir in Sawyer County, Wisconsin[1] formed by a dam across the Totagatic River.

[2] On January 9, 1934, a resolution was brought before the Sawyer County Board by Frank O. Nelson, a board member and a proponent for conservation, to "build a dam across the Totogatic River to create a large flowage or lake from the backwater, suitable for fish and which would furnish a refuge and breeding grounds for all kinds of wildlife."

By October 1935, forty men from the Federal Transient Camp at Hayward were working at the dam.

[citation needed] Mr. Nelson died on November 15, 1935, before he could see the dam completed.

After his death the County Board passed a resolution naming the flowage being formed at the big bend of the Totogatic, "Nelson Lake," in his memory, stating that: "this project was primarily proposed and started through the untiring efforts of the late F.O.