Helper is a city in
Carbon CountyCarbon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. Named for the major coal deposits in the area, the county seat and largest city, is Price. Carbon County is the second largest natural gas producer in Utah , with 94 billion cubic feet produced in 2008. As of 2010 the population was...
,
UtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
about 120 miles southeast of
Salt Lake CitySalt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
and 7 miles (11.3 km) northwest of the city of
PricePrice is a city in Carbon County, Utah, United States. The city is home to the USU-College of Eastern Utah, as well as the large USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum affiliated with the college. Price is located within short distances from both Nine Mile Canyon and the Manti-La Sal National Forest...
. It is also known as the "Hub of Carbon County". The population was 2,025 at the 2000 census.
The city lies along
U.S. Route 6U.S. Route 6 is a major east–west state highway through the central part of the U.S. state of Utah. Although it is about longer than US-50, it serves more populated areas, and in fact follows what had been US-50's routing until it was moved to follow I-70 in 1976...
/
U.S. Route 191U.S. Route 191 is a major north–south state highway through the eastern part of the U.S. state of Utah. The present alignment of US-191, which stretches from Mexico to Canada, was created in 1981 through Utah...
, a shortcut between
ProvoProvo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...
and Interstate 70, on the way from Salt Lake City to
Grand Junction, ColoradoThe City of Grand Junction is the largest city in western Colorado. It is a city with a council–manager government form that is the county seat and the most populous city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction is situated west-southwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. As...
. It is the location of
The Western Mining and Railroad MuseumThe Western Mining and Railroad Museum is a railroad museum and mining museum located in Helper, Utah, 120 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.The museum is housed in the Old Helper Hotel building, built in 1913–1914....
, a tourist attraction that also contains household and commercial artifacts illustrating late 19th and early 20th century living conditions.
Name
Helper is situated at the mouth of Price Canyon, alongside the
Price RiverThe Price River is a river in the state of Utah, in the United States. The river originates in the Wasatch Plateau in central Utah and flows southeastward through Price Canyon, alongside U.S. Route 6, to the cities of Helper and Price...
, on the eastern side of the Wasatch Plateau in Central Utah. Trains traveling westward from the
PricePrice is a city in Carbon County, Utah, United States. The city is home to the USU-College of Eastern Utah, as well as the large USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum affiliated with the college. Price is located within short distances from both Nine Mile Canyon and the Manti-La Sal National Forest...
side to the Salt Lake City side of the plateau required additional "
helperA bank engine or helper engine or pusher engine is a railway locomotive that temporarily assists a train that requires additional power or traction to climb a grade...
" engines in order to make the steep (2.4% grade) 15 mile climb up Price Canyon to the town of
Soldier SummitSoldier Summit is the name of both a mountain pass in the Wasatch Mountains in Utah and a ghost town located at the pass. Soldier Summit has been an important transportation route between the Wasatch Front and Price, Utah since the area was settled by the Mormon pioneers. It is on the route of both...
. Helper was named after these helper engines, which the
Denver and Rio Grande Western RailroadThe Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to Rio Grande or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, is a defunct U.S. railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow gauge line running south from Denver, Colorado in 1870; however, served mainly as a transcontinental...
stationed in the city.
History
With the arrival of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW) in 1881-82, Helper began to develop as a population center. By 1887 the D&RGW had erected some twenty-seven frame residences, with more built later in the year. The railroad planned to make Helper a freight terminal after the rail lines were changed from narrow to
standard gaugeThe standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
. The changeover process began in 1889 and was completed in 1891. In 1892, Helper was designated the division point between the eastern and western D&RGW terminals in Grand Junction, Colorado and
Ogden, UtahOgden is a city in Weber County, Utah, United States. Ogden serves as the county seat of Weber County. The population was 82,825 according to the 2010 Census. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a...
, respectively, and a new
depotA train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
, hotel, and other buildings were constructed.
On April 21, 1897,
Butch CassidyRobert LeRoy Parker , better known as Butch Cassidy, was a notorious American train robber, bank robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang in the American Old West...
and
Elzy LayWilliam Ellsworth "Elzy" Lay was an outlaw of the Old West best known as being a member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, gang, operating out of the Hole-in-the-Wall Pass in Johnson County, Wyoming...
robbed the Pleasant Valley Coal Company in nearby
Castle GateCastle Gate is a ghost town located in Carbon County in eastern Utah, USA. Castle Gate was a mining town approximately southeast of Salt Lake City, Utah. The name of the town was derived from a rock formation near the mouth of Price Canyon...
; they stayed in Helper the day before. It was said that Butch Cassidy later came back to Helper for occasional visits.
Helper's growth proceeded in a slow but deliberate fashion bearing little resemblance to booming metal-mining towns. The first amenities offered the few settlers and numerous railroad workers included three saloons, one grocery store, and one clothing establishment. A school was built in 1891. By 1895 the D&RGW buildings and shops at Helper were lighted by electricity, and two reservoirs for water had been constructed.
Ethnic diversity was destined to become a chief characteristic of Helper. Industrial expansion, coal mining, and railroading required a great amount of unskilled labor. In 1894 the railroad's passenger department established an immigration bureau to advertise Utah Territory. This move coincided with the influx of the numerous immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and from Asia.
Chinese laborers were brought in at an early date to work the Carbon County mines and railroads. By the late 1890s, Italians and Austrians (primarily Slovenians, Croatians, and Serbians) began to arrive. In 1900 Helper's population was listed at 385 people. Sixteen different nationality groups were represented. "Merchant" and "laborer" comprised most of the occupations for these early immigrants.
After the unsuccessful coal miners' strike of 1903-04, Italians, blacklisted from the mines at nearby Castle Gate, ventured into Helper to establish businesses and farms along the Price River. The influx of strikers into Helper accelerated its growth, with the newly established farms offering needed agricultural products.
The twentieth century was launched in Carbon County (which had been formed in 1894 from Emery County) in a shroud of uncertainty, largely due to the strike situation. Greek and Japanese immigrants were brought in to break the strike, and thus new ethnic groups came onto the scene. Helper, along with Price, was fast becoming the center of the Carbon County coalfields, providing service functions to the outlying camps. A 1903-04 business directory listed sixteen separate businesses in Helper; by 1912-13 the number had grown to twenty-nine, with a population of about 850. Helper townsite was regularly organized and incorporated in 1907 with a president of the town board and members of the board serving the community.
By 1914-15 there were 71 businesses listed for Helper, with 84 in 1918-19, and 157 for the years 1924-25. Many of Helper's business enterprises were associated with specific ethnic groups, but this fact illustrated the business opportunities then available in the town, enabling immigrants to "break the ranks of labor." Italian and Chinese-owned businesses were joined in the 1910s and 1920s by Slavic, Greek, and Japanese establishments. Specialty shops, cafes, coffeehouses, saloons, theaters, general mercantiles, and various service-oriented businesses formed Helper's commercial district. Some ventures, such as the Mutual Mercantile Company, were joint operations between different ethnic groups.
Ethnic identities, the existence of both inter- and intra-group rivalries, new waves of immigration, and Helper's position as a neutral ground for labor influenced the town's social landscape. Helper became known as the area "hub" because it was nestled among various mining camps, and it served as a city of refuge where strikers and union organizers as well as national guardsmen could congregate during tense times. Customs and lifestyles associated with various ethnic groups continued; however, through interaction many eventually were changed and modified in the Helper environment.
While the Great Depression hit the entire county, Helper's position as a railroad center provided some stability. Helper's city hall had been built in 1927, and a civic auditorium was constructed in 1936. The D&RGW developed "bridge traffic," acquiring trade from other major roads that wanted transcontinental connections.
Coal production increased during World War II and continued strong through the 1960s. With this, the city of Helper also prospered. Upturns and downswings plagued the industry in the 1970s, with new lows reached in the 1980s and early 1990s. Helper continues to ride the tide of these fluctuations and, as any town influenced by the mining industry, seeks to survive during bad economic times.
Helper was named the top western town for 2006 by the
True West MagazineTrue West Magazine is an American magazine that contains glossy articles and covers; reporting about events that happened in the "Old West" era.-History:True West began publication in 1953...
, in the January/February 2007 issue.
Transportation
AmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
, the national passenger rail system, provides service to
Helper stationThe Helper Amtrak station is a train station in Helper, Utah, United States served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system. It is served daily by the California Zephyr...
, operating its
California ZephyrThe California Zephyr is a long passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the midwestern and western United States.It runs from Chicago, Illinois, in the east to Emeryville, California, in the west, passing through the states of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California...
daily in both directions between
ChicagoUnion Station is a major train station that opened in 1925 in Chicago, replacing an earlier 1881 station. It is now the only intercity rail terminal in Chicago, as well as being the city's primary terminal for commuter trains. The station stands on the west side of the Chicago River between Adams...
and
EmeryvilleEmeryville is a small city located in Alameda County, California, in the United States. It is located in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, extending to the shore of San Francisco Bay. Its proximity to San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, the University of California, Berkeley, and...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, across the bay from San Francisco. The now defunct
Rio Grande ZephyrThe Rio Grande Zephyr was a passenger train operated by Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad between Denver, Colorado and Ogden, Utah in the Western United States. It operated from 1970 until 1983...
also stopped at Helper. It also lies along U.S. Route
6U.S. Route 6 , also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, a name that honors an American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system, running east-northeast from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Until 1964, it continued south from Bishop to...
/
191U.S. Route 191 is a spur of U.S. Route 91 that has two branches. The southern branch runs for 1,465 miles from Douglas, Arizona on the Mexican border to the southern part of Yellowstone National Park. The northern branch runs for 440 miles from the northern part of Yellowstone National Park to...
, which split just north of the city - U.S. 191 heads northeast to
DuchesneDuchesne is a city in and the county seat of Duchesne County, Utah, United States. The population was 1,690 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Duchesne city is located at . just west of the junction of the Strawberry and Duchesne rivers in the Uintah Basin of northeastern Utah...
, while U.S. 6 heads northwest to
Spanish ForkSpanish Fork is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo–Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 31,497 as of the 2008 census estimate.-History:Spanish Fork was settled by LDS pioneers in 1851...
. Both continue together southeast to
I-70Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a Park and Ride near Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Interstate Highway project in the United States. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the Rocky...
just west of
Green RiverGreen River is a city in Emery County, Utah, United States. The population was 973 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Green River is located at , on the banks of the Green River, after which the city is named. The San Rafael Swell region is to the west of Green River, while Canyonlands National Park...
.
Geography
Helper is located at 39°41′19"N 110°51′27"W (39.688486, -110.857612).
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.6 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the U.S. Census of 2000, there were 2,025 people, 814 households, and 559 families residing in the city. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,132.7 people per square mile (436.8/km²). There were 925 housing units at an average density of 517.4 per square mile (199.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.59% White, 0.44% African American, 1.58% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 3.90% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.14% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.31% of the population.
There were 814 households out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.3% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.97.
In the city, the population was spread out with 25.5% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,052, and the median income for a family was $37,266. Males had a median income of $32,708 versus $22,500 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $15,762. About 11.1% of families and 12.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 13.7% of those age 65 or over.
Schools
Helper has two schools that belong to the Carbon School District (Carbon County, Utah). Located in western Helper is its lone elementary school, Sally Mauro Elementary, and located about a half of a mile east of the elementary school is Helper Junior High School.
External links