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History · Helen

Helen dates to 1912

Most of Helen was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1957 on, and the census since 1920.

1912founded
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Helen’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Helen began

When was Helen founded?

1912

Helen dates its founding to 1912 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 176 in 19202020 census: 531114 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1903.The full story ↓

What stands out about Helen’s past

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

A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · By decade

Helen, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s18 items
MAYOR BOB FOWLER OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN DISPLAYS A MAP SHOWING A 100-YEAR FLOOD PLAIN FOR HIS SMALL TOWN..…1975MAYOR BOB FOWLER OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN …MapOFFICE OF THE HELEN MOUNTAIN EAGLE, A MONTHLY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN1975OFFICE OF THE HELEN MOUNTAIN EAGLE, A MONTHLY NEWSPAP…DocumentA CONSTRUCTION WORKER DRILLS THROUGH SOLID ROCK ALONG ESCOWEE STREET ON THE BANK OF THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER PRIOR TO...…1975A CONSTRUCTION WORKER DRILLS THROUGH SOLID ROCK ALONG…A GERMAN SKI INSTRUCTOR ON LEAVE FROM HIS DUTIES AT A NEARBY NORTH GEORGIA RESORT OFFERS A TOAST DURING THE FIFTH... - …1975A GERMAN SKI INSTRUCTOR ON LEAVE FROM HIS DUTIES AT A…A GROUP OF "UNICOI CLOGGERS" FROM WHITE COUNTY, GEORGIA PERFORM AMERICAN MOUNTAIN DANCE ROUTINES TO BAVARIAN POLKA... -…1975A GROUP OF "UNICOI CLOGGERS" FROM WHITE COUNTY, GEORG…AERIAL VIEW OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN, SHOWING GEORGIA HIGHWAY 17/75 LEADING INTO TOWN FROM THE SOUTH1975AERIAL VIEW OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN, SHOW…AERIAL VIEW OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. MAIN STREET SHOPS ALONG GEORGIA HIGHWAY 17-75 ARE AT THE LEFT. LOWER..…1975AERIAL VIEW OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. MAIN…AN ELDERLY RESIDENT OF NEARBY ROBERTSTOWN WATCHES THE FOURTH OF JULY PARADE DOWN THE MAIN STREET OF HELEN, GEORGIA... -…1975AN ELDERLY RESIDENT OF NEARBY ROBERTSTOWN WATCHES THE…American Legion parade-557706-original1975American Legion parade-557706-originalAmerican Legion parade-5577061975American Legion parade-557706BOY MOWS A LAWN ON UNICOI STREET IN HELEN. GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. THE VILLAGE OF SOME 270 PEOPLE WAS A TYPICAL... -…1975BOY MOWS A LAWN ON UNICOI STREET IN HELEN. GEORGIA, N…BUZ LEE TRANSFERRED HIS NURSERY BUSINESS FROM GAINESVILLE GEORGIA, 32 MILES NORTH TO HELEN, A MOUNTAIN VILLAGE OF SOME …1975BUZ LEE TRANSFERRED HIS NURSERY BUSINESS FROM GAINESV…CARPENTER AT WORK ON THE FIRST UNIT OF THE NEW ALPINE VILLAGE AT THE OUTSKIRTS OF HELEN. WHEN COMPLETED THE PROJECT... …1975CARPENTER AT WORK ON THE FIRST UNIT OF THE NEW ALPINE…CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER AT HELEN IS A POPULAR SPOT TO BEGIN INNER TUBE FLOAT EXCURSIONS. THESE YOUTHS ARE PART OF A GROUP..…1975CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER AT HELEN IS A POPULAR SPOT TO BEG…CHIEF WESTMORELAND, KNOWN AS "MR. FIX-IT", WORKS ON A GOLF CART IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. RESIDENTS OF THE..…1975CHIEF WESTMORELAND, KNOWN AS "MR. FIX-IT", WORKS ON A…CHILDREN AT PLAY ON A ROPE SWING AT "BIG ROCK", THE FAVORITE LOCAL PLAY AREA ON THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER 250 YARDS... - …1975CHILDREN AT PLAY ON A ROPE SWING AT "BIG ROCK", THE F…CHILDREN OF CALVIN GARRETT AT PLAY IN THE STREET IN FRONT OF THEIR RIVER STREET HOME IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR... - NARA …1975CHILDREN OF CALVIN GARRETT AT PLAY IN THE STREET IN F…CLOSEUP OF A FLORIDA BALLOON PILOT TESTING HIS TETHERED HOT AIR CRAFT PRIOR TO THE START OF THE SECOND ANNUAL HELEN... …1975CLOSEUP OF A FLORIDA BALLOON PILOT TESTING HIS TETHER…
1980s–1990snothing 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
The story

How Helen came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Helen.

Read it all →

Helen was laid out by John E. Mitchell of St. Louis during the years 1912 and 1913. When a name for the small settlement was being sought, a lumber official suggested the name of his daughter and there was little opposition. Called the "Star of the North," Helen was incorporated on August 18, 1913. Helen was built along the former route of the Unicoi Turnpike, a 1,000-year-old Native American trail connecting Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia.

Chapters20th-century21st-century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Helen, 1903 to 1975

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903Post officeThe Robertstown post office opens
  3. 1912
    FoundingHelen is established
  4. 1913Post officeThe Helen post office opens
  5. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1969Post officeThe Robertstown post office closes
  7. 1975In the archiveMAYOR BOB FOWLER OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN DISPLAYS A MAP SHOWING A 100-YEAR FL…
On the map

Helen on the map, 1957 to 1985

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

Helen on the 1957 USGS mapHelen on the 1985 USGS map1957Helen sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

A CONSTRUCTION WORKER DRILLS THROUGH SOLID ROCK ALONG ESCOWEE STREET ON THE BANK OF THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER PRIOR TO...…
Retake this viewA CONSTRUCTION WORKER DRILLS THROUGH SOLID ROCK ALONG ESCOWEE STREET ON THE BANK OF THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER PRIOR TO...…, 1975

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Helen, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020531

Grew from 176 people in 1920 to 531 in 2020, 3 times over.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Helen’s post office has been open since 1913. Another post office, Robertstown, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Robertstown
1903–1969
Helen
1913–today
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Robertstown
1cemetery inside Helen
Union Baptist Church

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

Help out

Finish Helen’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewA CONSTRUCTION WORKER DRILLS THROUGH SO…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Helen’s history

What year was Helen founded?

In 1912, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Helen’s post office opened in 1903, and the census of 1920 counted 176 people here.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (18), Wikipedia, 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.