Welcome to Helena ...

The city of Helena is located in Lewis and Clark County<1>. It is the County Seat and the capital of Montana.

The pronunciation of Helena: HEL-en-uh<2>

Helena was established in 1864.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Helena has a population of 33,215 people<3> (see below for details).

The community of Helena is 4,000 feet [1,219 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the altitude of Helena is ¾ mile [or ~1¼ km] above sea level.

Time Zone: Helena lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time

Helena is within the (406) area code.

Websites for Helena ...

Official Website:   www.ci.helena.mt.us/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.helenachamber.com/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Helena had an population of 33,215 people. This is an increase of 17.83% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 28.84% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Helena had a population of 28,190 people (which is 44.47% of the total population of Lewis and Clark County). This makes Helena the county's most populous community.

The population of Helena represents 2.85% of the population of Montana (which has 989,415 people), making it the state's 6th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 28,190 people, the population of Helena increased 9.35% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 25,780 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Helena.

Communities Also Named Helena ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 35 communities that are also named Helena - they are located in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California (2), Florida, Georgia, Idaho (2), Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan (3), Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri (2), Nebraska, Nevada (2), New York, North Carolina (2), North Dakota, Ohio (2), Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Helena.

Communities near Helena ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Helena.

• Fort Harrison
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Fort Harrison is located in Lewis and Clark County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Harrison
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Fort Harrison
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fort Harrison <5>
• East Helena
  (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • East Helena is located in Lewis and Clark County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,130 people
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Helena
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on East Helena
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Helena <5>
• Montana City
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montana City have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Montana City is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montana City
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Montana City
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montana City <5>
• Park City
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Park City have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Park City is located in Lewis and Clark County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Park City
• Birdseye
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Birdseye is located in Lewis and Clark County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdseye
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Birdseye
• Clancy
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Clancy is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clancy
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Clancy
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clancy <5>
• Alhambra
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alhambra have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Alhambra is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alhambra
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Alhambra
• Austin
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Austin is located in Lewis and Clark County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Austin
• Rimini ‑ Historic
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Rimini is located in Lewis and Clark County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rimini
• Frontier Town
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frontier Town have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Frontier Town is located in Lewis and Clark County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frontier Town
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Frontier Town

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Helena. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Helena.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Helena. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Helena.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Helena. Our list includes 102 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Helena.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Helena ...

Looking for more information about Helena? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Helena, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Helena.

Adding Helena to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Helena in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Helena was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

We also found Helena on a map titled Rand McNally Map of Montana (1925).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Helena.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Helena: www.ci.helena.mt.us/

The official website for Lewis and Clark County: www.co.lewis-clark.mt.us/

The official website for State of Montana: https://mt.gov/