Helena, Oklahoma
| Helena, Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
 Location of Helena, Oklahoma |
|
| Coordinates: 36°32′47″N 98°16′14″W / 36.54639°N 98.27056°WCoordinates: 36°32′47″N 98°16′14″W / 36.54639°N 98.27056°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oklahoma |
| County | Alfalfa |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.4 sq mi (1.0 km2) |
| • Land | 0.4 sq mi (1.0 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,411 ft (430 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 1,403 |
| • Density | 3,807/sq mi (1,469.8/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 73741 |
| Area code(s) | 580 |
| FIPS code | 40-33450 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1093653 |
Helena is a town in southeastern Alfalfa County, Oklahoma, United States. Residents pronounce the town's name with a long E: "Heh-LEE'-nuh." The population was 1,403 at the 2010 census.
It is the site of the James Crabtree Correctional Center, run by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, with a population of 1,003 inmates in 2010. It is the site of the Timberlake Public School district, shared with the nearby towns of Goltry, Jet, and Nash.
On June 1894, Helen S. Monroe received a postal designation for Helena. Monroe became the first postmaster and the town's namesake.
Shortly after the Cherokee Outlet opened to settlement, numerous small communities emerged in what was then southwestern Woods County (now Alfalfa county). When the Arkansas Valley and Western Railway survey bypassed the nearby settlement of Carwile, those residents began migrating closer to the proposed railroad, near where H. H. Anderson had established a store around 1896. The townsite was laid out nearby in 1902, and the village was incorporated the following year, by which time the population was 160.
The Woods County High School, one of only two in Oklahoma Territory at that time, was constructed in 1903 and opened in 1904 with four hundred students. On January 6, 1904, the Arkansas Valley and Western Railway (part of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway system) reached Helena. Growing fast, by mid-1905 it was estimated that seven hundred residents supported two banks, two schools, two newspapers, four grain elevators, a flour mill, and two lumberyards. By 1909, there were Baptist, Christian, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches. The 1910 census showed 760 residents, a number which had increased to 776 by 1940.
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