Kelsey is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in El Dorado County

El Dorado County, California

El Dorado County is a county located in the historic Gold Country in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and foothills of the U.S. state of California. The 2010 population was 181,058. The El Dorado county seat is in Placerville....

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Chili Bar

Chili Bar, California

Chili Bar is a former settlement and mining camp in El Dorado County, California. It was located on the South Fork of the American River east-southeast of Coloma....

, at an elevation of 1923 feet (586 m).

A post office operated at Kelsey from 1856 to 1872, from 1875 to 1903, with several moves, and from 1920. The name honors Benjamin Kelsey

Benjamin Kelsey

Benjamin or Ben Kelsey was an early American pioneer of California with his brothers Andy and Sam Kelsey. He was a founder, often with one or more of his brothers, of several settlements in California....

, who came to California in 1841 and discovered gold at the site in 1848. The town was first known as Kelsey's Diggings because of the mining there.