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B−History
History · East Helena

East Helena’s post office opened in 1888, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 45% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1930.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From East Helena’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How East Helena began

When was East Helena founded?

1888

The East Helena post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,039 in 19302020 census: 1,944138 years

How historic is East Helena?

B−

More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first East Helena post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives East Helena’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, East Helena is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of East Helena’s overall grade.
Founding era1888, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194029.3% of homes (±7.8) · typical MT town 13.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MT town 12.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 45%
NewerOlder

Montana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Montana town has 12.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so East Helena’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (16% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (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 East Helena’s past

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

On the map since 18994 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 2001. Watch East Helena change.
★ What stands out · On the map

East Helena on the map, 1899 to 2001

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

East Helena on the 1899 USGS mapEast Helena on the 1950 USGS mapEast Helena on the 1985 USGS mapEast Helena on the 2001 USGS map1899Helena and Vicinity 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 East Helena.

The story

How East Helena came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of East Helena.

Read it all →

In 1864 gold was discovered in a gulch off the Prickly Pear Creek. This led to the founding of a mining camp along a small creek in the area which the prospectors called "Last Chance Gulch". In 1876 Drumlummon Mine opened and it produced a rich bounty of gold and silver worth millions of dollars.

In 1888, the Helena & Livingston Smelting & Reduction Company's smelter was built. Workers and their families moved to the area. The settlement officially became the town of East Helena in 1889.

The smelter plant operated from 1888 to 2001. It processed silver-lead ore. From 1927 to 1972, the Anaconda Company had a zinc recovery plant which supplied their Great Falls zinc refinery.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

East Helena, 1888 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888In the archiveSanborn Fire Insurance Map from East Helena, Lewis And Clark County, Montana. LOC sanborn…
  3. 1888Post officeThe East Helena post office opens
  4. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1928Born hereHerb Plews is born here
  7. 1975Born hereCasey Anderson is born here
  8. 1980In the archiveBarn, Kleffner Ranch
By decade

East Helena, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from East Helena, Lewis And Clark County, Montana. LOC sanborn04981 0011888Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from East Helena, Lewis An…Map
1890s–1970snothing 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
1980s5 items
Barn, Kleffner Ranch1980Barn, Kleffner RanchMain house on the Kleffner Ranch, on Prickly Pear Creek1980Main house on the Kleffner Ranch, on Prickly Pear Cre…Barn, Kleffner Ranch1980Barn, Kleffner RanchMain house on the Kleffner Ranch, on Prickly Pear Creek1980Main house on the Kleffner Ranch, on Prickly Pear Cre…A classic 1925 Chevrolet truck is housed inside the Child-Kleffner Ranch's big barn1980A classic 1925 Chevrolet truck is housed inside the C…
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
Today1 recent
BUGX 1852 at East Helena, Montana on April 5, 20242024BUGX 1852 at East Helena, Montana on April 5, 2024
Every building

East Helena, building by building, 1888

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

East Helena fire insurance map, 1888, sheet 11888Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Barn, Kleffner Ranch
Retake this viewBarn, Kleffner Ranch, 1980

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

East Helena, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00019401960198020002020Peak: 1,984

Between 1,039 and 1,984 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in East Helena

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Herb PlewsAmerican baseball player · b. 1928
Casey AndersonAmerican naturalist · b. 1975
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

East Helena’s post office has been open since 1888.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Four Range
Gone or out of use
Four Rangelocale
1cemetery inside East Helena
East Helena

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

Help out

Finish East 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
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBarn, Kleffner Ranch: 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.

Helena Valley SoutheastIts storyDHelena50 historic placesA−

Questions about East Helena’s history

What year was East Helena founded?

The East Helena post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does East Helena rank for history?

East Helena is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. 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.

How old are the homes in East Helena?

29% of East Helena’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1971.

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 (4), the Library of Congress (3), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.