Nelson City community grew around property owned by Edwin Nelson. He built a small store, living quarters and a Gulf filling station in the 1920s; then placed a sign at the entrance calling it Nelson City. The structure built next in 1929 was a dance hall. There were only gravel roads to the area at that time, but Nelson City was put on the map because of all the activity even though there was no post office. The Depression of 1929 made it too expensive for the customers to travel to the dances. The building was sold to Edwin Houston, a colorful rancher known for his large export business of animals to Latin America. Houston started a restaurant in the old dance hall building and named it Po-Po Cafe after the great Mexican volcano, Popocatepetl.