Show helper Is center ot of great coal mining area has payroll of over a half million dollars and does large volume of business has had steady growth helper the hub of carlon carbon county and the most progressive little city in eastern utah is situated right at the mouth of both price and spring canyons with roads radiating from this hub to kenilworth gibson coal city castle gate price and the uintah basin forty eight years ago helper was n nothing more than a gap in in the price river canyon with only one log cabin owned by pratt who settled here on july 5 1880 this early settler was the son of parley P pratt the widely known mormon church leader and early pioneer of utah pratt saw in this valley a wonderful future and chose this spot as his future home building the first log cabin and starting the foundation fou dation of this fast growing city known as helper utah the cabin and other landmarks made by this pioneer are still intact and may be viewed by tors grading for the first line of the denver rio grande railroad company under president palmer and vice president dodge commenced through helper in march 1881 in 1883 laying of track was completed from deseret through to salt lake city and ogden regular service between grand junction and ogden began may 17 1883 in 1883 the denver rio grande railroad company began to build one story frame houses for its employed emp loyes and thus started the growth of a town by the fall of 1887 the railroad had built twenty seven frame residences and in the summer of the following year ten more were erected it was planned by president palmer of the road to make helper a freight terminal and in 1889 when the standard gauge track was completed helper was made a division point for the road it remained so for thirty years or up to the time the terminal was moved to soldier summit in 1891 a large railroad roundhouse machine shops coaling station water tank and large hotel were built to provide for the needs of the company in 1893 the present commodious passenger station was built the top floor was converted into a library and billiard room for the men and remained so until helper railroad Y al C A was built aside from these railroad buildings the first house to bs be built in helper was a two story frame house built by J tom fitch in 1891 the tha first business house was a small saloon this was followed by the first store building and in 1893 the first log school house was completed helper precinct was organized in 1892 and was set off from spring glen precinct by order of county commissioners ners in 1894 things were fairly booming in helper by this time the railroad employed hundreds of men coal mines of the utah coal company were in operation employing many more men and a number num berof of others began farming the fertile soil and irrigating their lands business houses and residences began shooting u up p with wit h startling rapidity during 0 october et aber 0 of f 1907 helper township was regularly organized and in corp orated the first duly elected officers were J tom fitch mayor W continued on page four 1 aal I 1 grade school building in ferron helper is center continued from page one C broeker J H harrison steve gianotti and louis lowenstein councilmen this move proved to be a city awakening for the people of helper A franchise to a twenty y foot strip of ground along main alain street was secured from the railroad company fence telephone poles etc were moved from the center of the street and main alain street of helper was widened to fifty feet today helper has over population hundreds of modern up to date residences with four blocks of business houses on both sides of main alain street with its white way and paved main street the industrial activity makes helper a bustling prosperous western city right in the very heart of greatest coal fields the stimulus of such improvement brought many people to buy suitable residence sites and build comfortable and attractive homes the coming prosperity of the town was then very much in evidence helper has not grown up over night as has been the case with ana many ny western cities its growth has been steadily and healthy along with the development of our industries the development of the coal mines and the railroad in this district helper the hub of carbon county is the center of industrial activity and has become the great trading center of eastern utah during last year helper received on an average monthly I 1 ya sixty carl carloads of merchandise twenty five cars of building materials fifteen cars food materials ten cars gasoline and four cars automobiles and ten cars miscellaneous materials helper forwarded on a monthly average 2580 carloads of coal and five carloads of miscellaneous seeds scrap iron bottles etc this amount carried on by the railroads and that done by the extensive auto truck system one readily sees the activity of helper as a commercial center helper merchants keep on hand band a splendid line of merchandise and eve every ry evening one sees the entire main alain street parked with automobiles these cars are owner by miners who come to helper to do their evening shopping and visit the various amusement places in helper the monthly payroll in helper and vicinity reaches over a half million and with this amount in circulation business is always good helper has an ideal climate both winter and summer making it a fine fin e place to live the year round lawns lawn s and gardens are planted by most residents and the city has on the resultant cloak of natural beauty nestling as it does in the palm of the hills helper is a beautiful spot and is an ideal location for a home there is ample water supply for a city of which is fresh and pure from bubbling mountain springs near colton and piped through a recently completed pipe line costing no other drinking water in the state can compare with its cool refreshing healthful qualities the city of helper has now under construction a 25 concrete reservoir of over one million gallons capacity as a storage and supply for the new additions being added to helper these seventy five new homes will be made attractive and its plan of sanitation makes helper a clean and healthy comm community unit Y r where one can live happily and enjoy himself helper has a new city hall fire argine a splendid fa city t Y P park ark with trees and lawn growing an and d the most up to date baseball diamond in eastern utah helper has three dance halls name ly liberty hall agusu and the new 00 rainbow gardens the most moat up to date dance hall ball in eastern utah and a modern and up to date theatre these with the baseball games furnish entertainments and amusements throughout the year good fishing boating and huntin hunting are only short distances from helper the mormon catholic episcopal churches conduct sunday schools and hold services weekly their auxiliaries are in working and do much to aid in the betterment of this industrial center helper has a live chamber of commerce business and professional club american legion american legion auxiliary and numerous lodges all working for the betterment and growth of helper and utah helper has a seventeen room school house equipped with a sewing room and manual training department and is modern in every respect its enrollment roll ment last year was pupils doing splendid work in the well organized classes under the supervision of principal A S horsley plans have been proposed for helper to have high school accommodations in the near future helper is under the price river conservation district and is aided in her agriculture by using water stored in the mountains the building of the horsley dam at scofield and storing of water in the large reservoir have aided our farmers to increase the amount of acreage cultivated and their splendid crops some of the best vegetables fruits grains and hay of eastern utah are provided and pro deuced by helper farmers poultry and dairy farms are growing and supplying our needs with fresh products helper is the home of the commercial traveler and tourist their wants are readily supplied by the numerous service stations garages grocery and dry goods stores helper has four modern clean and sanitary restaurants which never close serving the best quality of food to t the hungry her twenty clean modern hotels and rooming house are always filled the civic improvements the development of industry and the large growth of population seen in helper the past year is very encouraging to those who have chosen this city as their home the end of hel helpers P ers enlargement lar gement and development is not in sight and helpers future is full of promise to the and investor |