On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Helena West Side is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. 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 West Side’s overall grade.
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 Helena West Side’s 311 sits above most of its state (89% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 44 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 West Side’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The story so far
Helena West Side, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Helena West Side yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Helena West Side is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lewis and Clark County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Helena West Side had a population of 1,331. Annexation of part of the CDP by the city of Helena reduced the CDP's population in earlier counts. It is part of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,637 to 1,331 (-19%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Helena West Side. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1950Helena 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 West Side.
Famous people
Famous people close to Helena West Side
Nobody well known was born in Helena West Side itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
BroadwaterDotsonvilleMobile City Home Park
Gone or out of use
Fort William Henry HarrisonmilitaryHotel BroadwaterlocaleKesslerslocaleLooby MinemineNE SE Section 8 MinemineNelson GulchlocaleNW SW Section 4 MinemineSmallwood MinemineThermal Springslocale
1cemetery inside Helena West Side
Montana State Veterans
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Helena West Side is more historic than 72% 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.
What is on the National Register in Helena West Side?
5 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Wassweiler Hotel and Bath Houses (listed 1978, the first), 2 historic districts, the Western Clay Manufacturing Company and the Fort Harrison Veterans' Hospital Historic District, with 41 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 44 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Helena West Side?
7% of Helena West Side’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (5), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
