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BHistory
History · Helena

Helena dates to 1845, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns · #51 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it

Most of Helena was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 56 buildings. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1920.

1845founded
1on the National Register
0.8%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Helena’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Helena began

When was Helena founded?

1845

Helena dates its founding to 1845 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 808 in 19202020 census: 20,914181 years

How historic is Helena?

B

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1849.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Helena’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Helena is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #51 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Helena’s overall grade.
Founding era1845, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19400.8% of homes (±1.0) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 56 historic buildings, 25.7 per 10,000 residents · typical AL town 2.7 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 59%
NewerOlder
Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 73%

Alabama towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Alabama town has 2.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Helena’s 25.7 sits above most of its state (72% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 56 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1845.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Helena’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Helena, and 12 old place names are still on the map.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1920 and 1950, then grew more than tenfold.A historic districtThe Helena Historic District takes in 56 historic buildings.On the map since 19055 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1997. Watch Helena change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Helena’s post office has been open since 1872. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cove
1849–1856
Hillsboro
1856–1872
Helena
1872–today
Bamford
1891–1941
Roebuck
1923–1925
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BamfordCallistonDearing DownsDunaway FarmsFallistonFox HavenFox TraceHighlandsParamountRoebuckShannon GlenTacoa
Gone or out of use
Coalmont MinemineGould MinesmineGrabunlocaleHelena QuarrymineJaneway MinemineRoebuck Minemine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Helena
ActonHelenaShiloh

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

People over time

Helena, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,000192019401960198020002020808 in 1920Low: 421

Lost half of its people between 1920 and 1950, then grew more than tenfold.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Helena’s Wikipedia page.

On the National Register

1 listing protects 56 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
56
each building in a district counts
first listed
2006
Helena Historic District
Helena Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Classical Revival1
Tudor Revival1
Late 19th Century and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Bungalow/Craftsman1
Helena Historic DistrictLate Victorian

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Helena came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Helena.

Read it all →

The area was long the territory of the historic Muscogee people, known by English colonists as the Creek Indians. While Scots-Irish and English traders had interaction with them, and there was some armed conflict in the early 19th century, most European-American settlers did not come to this area until 1849. This was after the United States had conducted Indian Removal of the Creek and other Southeastern tribes in the 1830s, to lands west of the Mississippi River.

ChaptersEarly settlersCivil WarReconstructionDepression eraModern expansion

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Helena, 1845 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1845
    FoundingHelena is established
  3. 1849Post officeThe Cove post office opens
  4. 1856Post officeThe Cove post office closes
  5. 1856Post officeThe Hillsboro post office opens
  6. 1872Post officeThe Hillsboro post office closes
  7. 1872Post officeThe Helena post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1933In the archiveAlabama - Guntersville Dam through
  11. 1974Born hereBrent Hinds is born here
  12. 1992In the archiveAERIAL VIEW. - Louisville and Nashville Railway, Cahaba River Bridge, Spanning Cahaba Riv…
  13. 21st century
  14. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 20,914
By decade

Helena, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s2 items
Alabama - Guntersville Dam through1933Alabama - Guntersville Dam throughAlabama - Guntersville Dam through1933Alabama - Guntersville Dam through
1940s–1980snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1990s8 items
AERIAL VIEW. - Louisville and Nashville Railway, Cahaba River Bridge, Spanning Cahaba River1992AERIAL VIEW. - Louisville and Nashville Railway, Caha…AERIAL VIEW. - Louisville and Nashville Railway, Cahaba River Bridge, Spanning Cahaba River1992AERIAL VIEW. - Louisville and Nashville Railway, Caha…BRIDGE ABUTMENT, EXTERIOR NORTH. - Billy Gould Coal Mine, Confluence of Cahaba River and Buck Creek1992BRIDGE ABUTMENT, EXTERIOR NORTH. - Billy Gould Coal M…COKE OVEN RETAINING WALL, EXTERIOR SOUTH. - Billy Gould Coal Mine, Confluence of Cahaba River and Buck Creek1992COKE OVEN RETAINING WALL, EXTERIOR SOUTH. - Billy Gou…COKE OVEN RETAINING WALL, EXTERIOR SOUTH. - Billy Gould Coal Mine, Confluence of Cahaba River and Buck Creek1992COKE OVEN RETAINING WALL, EXTERIOR SOUTH. - Billy Gou…COKE OVEN RETAINING WALL, EXTERIOR WEST. - Billy Gould Coal Mine, Confluence of Cahaba River and Buck Creek1992COKE OVEN RETAINING WALL, EXTERIOR WEST. - Billy Goul…STEAM ENGINE FOUNDATION, EXTERIOR SOUTHEAST. - Billy Gould Coal Mine, Confluence of Cahaba River and Buck Creek1992STEAM ENGINE FOUNDATION, EXTERIOR SOUTHEAST. - Billy …Site Plan, Foundation Remnant, Steam Engine Foundation, and details - Billy Gould Coal Mine, Confluence of Cahaba River…1992Site Plan, Foundation Remnant, Steam Engine Foundatio…
Today13 recent
AL261sEndRoad-CR17sCR91sCR52wSigns2017AL261sEndRoad-CR17sCR91sCR52wSignsFront of Helena High School in Alabama2014Front of Helena High School in AlabamaOld Town Helena Snow2008Old Town Helena SnowHelena No 1 in Alabama IMG 73922008Helena No 1 in Alabama IMG 7392City of Helena Alabama Welcome Center2008City of Helena Alabama Welcome CenterBuckCreekHelenasnow IMG 87172008BuckCreekHelenasnow IMG 8717Buck Creek Dam at low water IMG 74082008Buck Creek Dam at low water IMG 7408Buck Creek Dam Helena AL Copy of IMG 94422008Buck Creek Dam Helena AL Copy of IMG 9442Alabama Highway 261 Helena Alabama end IMG 7388c2008Alabama Highway 261 Helena Alabama end IMG 7388cAl261IMG 04692008Al261IMG 0469AL261IMG 0469c2008AL261IMG 0469cHelena Fire Department Engine 612007Helena Fire Department Engine 61ALMap-doton-Helena2004ALMap-doton-Helena
On the map

Helena on the map, 1905 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Helena. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Helena on the 1905 USGS mapHelena on the 1959 USGS mapHelena on the 1975 USGS mapHelena on the 1986 USGS mapHelena on the 1997 USGS map1905Bessemer Iron District sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Helena.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Alabama - Guntersville Dam through
Retake this viewAlabama - Guntersville Dam through, 1933

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Helena’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Helena’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAlabama - Guntersville Dam through: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Hoover1 historic placeCPelhamIts storyDBessemer7 historic placesB+AlabasterIts storyD−

Questions about Helena’s history

What year was Helena founded?

In 1845, according to Wikidata. Helena’s post office opened in 1849, and the census of 1920 counted 808 people here.

How does Helena rank for history?

Helena is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #51 of 187 in Alabama. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Helena?

One place: the Helena Historic District (listed 2006).

How old are the homes in Helena?

0.8% of Helena’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 2001.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (23), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.