The town of San Nicolas is located on the central-western portion of the province of Ilocos Norte. West of the town lie portions of Laoag and Paoay while on the east lies Sarrat and a portion of Batac. On the north lies the city of Laoag and part of Sarrat while on its south is the municipality of Batac.

Being the intersection of national roads leading to the northern, eastern and southern towns of the province, San Nicolas enjoys a strategic commercial advantage over other towns of the province. The town is composed of 15 barangays in the poblacion and 9 in the rural areas.

With its area of 6,011 hectares, San Nicolas is a small town.

San Nicolas is primarily an agricultural town producing crops of rice, garlic, tobacco and vegetables. The produce are almost always bountiful owing to its rich, fertile lands which also yield fruits of different kinds.

Cottage industries abound in San Nicolas, foremost of which is the centuries old pottery-making and ceramics industry. The town is blessed with clay fields in the southern portion from which the town folks engaged in the industry derive their materials. Other industries of the town are tannery, hollow-blocks making, chicharon and longganisa making,, blacksmithing, iron-works.

Because of its strategic location, San Nicolas is fast becoming a commercial and industrial hub in Ilocos Norte. The Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. has put up its biggest plant north of Manila in the town. The San Miguel in the town. The San Miguel Corporation has also established a Beer Marketing Division and so with Magnolia Dairy Products, both of which service the whole of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and part of Cagayan province. Swift has also put up a dressing plant in our area.

The town of San Nicolas continues to grow progressively. Aside from economic growth, San Nicolas boasts of a beautiful and orderly physical profile. Its streets are among the most beautiful laid-out in the province. They traverse the poblacion in almost symmetrical east-west and north-south grid. They are wide and well-paved. The San Nicolas Municipal Hall has been renovated with annexes at the back conforming to the architecture of the old building. The town plaza is adjacent to the Municipal Hall. The Marcos Mini-Cultural and Sports Complex is located north of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Roman Catholic Church was built by the Augustinian friars in 1703, making it centuries-old like most Catholic churches in the province. Other Castilian influences in the town are numerous like the old Casa Tribunal which is now the San Nicolas Central Elementary School and the Vigan House owned by the Lardizabal Family west of the town plaza.

Religious fervor is big among the townspeople. This can be traced to the legend surrounding the name of the town after a saint, the only one in the province of Ilocos Norte. Traditional history gives us an account of the origin of the name San Nicolas. It is based on a supposed miracle. At the height of a strong typhoon, the people sought sanctuary in the church. In desperation they called upon the saints one after the other. But the typhoon became stronger and flood came. However, when the name of San Nicolas de Tolentino was invoked, the typhoon ended most abruptly and the flood water receded. A statue of San Nicolas was then installed in the church and the saint became the patron of the town. On his feastday on September 10, the church distributes to the faithful tiny flat, round rice cakes dried under the sun. These are blessed sacramental which the people keep in their homes for good luck and a safeguard from danger and illness.