Helper, Utah

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Helper is a city in Carbon County, Utah about 120 miles southeast of Salt Lake City and 7 miles northwest of the city of Price. It is also known as the "Hub of Carbon County". The population was 2,025 at the 2000 U.S. Census.

The town is located on U.S. Route 6, a shortcut between Provo, Utah and Interstate 70, on the way from Salt Lake City, Utah to Grand Junction, Colorado. The city hosts The Western Mining and Railroad Museum, a tourist attraction that also contains household and commercial artifacts illustrating late 19th and early 20th century living conditions.

1 Name
2 History
3 Transportation
4 Geography
5 Demographics
6 Trivia
7 External links
8 Footnotes
9 References

[edit] Name

Helper is situated at the mouth of Price Canyon, alongside the Price River, on the eastern side of the Wasatch Plateau in Central Utah. Trains traveling westward from the Price side to the Salt Lake City side of the plateau required additional "helper" engines in order to make the steep (2.4% grade) 15 mile climb up Price Canyon to the town of Soldier Summit. Helper was named after these helper engines, which the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad stationed in the town.

[edit] 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 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, Utah, respectively, and a new depot, hotel, and other buildings were constructed.

On April 21, 1897, Butch Cassidy and Elzy Lay robbed the Pleasant Valley Coal Company in nearby Castle Gate, they stayed in Helper the day before. It was said that Butch Cassidy later came back to Helper for occasional visits.^[1]

[edit] Transportation

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Helper, operating its California Zephyr daily in both directions between Chicago and Emeryville, California across the bay from San Francisco. The now defunct Rio Grande Zephyr also stopped at Helper.

[edit] Geography

Helper is located at 39°41′19″N, 110°51′27″W (39.688486, -110.857612)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.6 km² (1.8 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the U.S. Census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,025 people, 814 households, and 559 families residing in the city. The population density was 436.8/km² (1,132.7/mi²). There were 925 housing units at an average density of 199.5/km² (517.4/mi²). 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 races, 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 couples 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 income 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.