Helena-West Helena
Helena City Hall | 702 Cherry Street | Helena, AR 72342
Helena-West Helena is the county seat of and the largest city within Phillips County, Arkansas, United States. The current city represents a consolidation, effective on January 1, 2006, of the two Arkansas cities of Helena and West Helena. West Helena is located on the western side of Crowley’s Ridge, a geographic anomaly of the typically flat Arkansas Delta. Helena is nestled between the Mississippi River and the eastern side of Crowley's Ridge. The Helena Bridge, one of Arkansas' four Mississippi River bridges, carries U. S. Route 49 across to Mississippi. The combined population of the two cities was 15,012 at the 2000 census. The municipality traces its historical roots back to the founding of the port town of Helena in 1833 on the Mississippi River. Helena was occupied by the Union Army early in the American Civil War. The city of Helena was the site of the Battle of Helena fought in 1863. The battle was started by Confederate forces in an unsuccessful attempt to oust the Union Army from Helena in order to help relieve pressure on the strategic river town of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Helena later served as the launching point for the Union Army in the capture of Little Rock, the state capital, later in the year.
The city grew into a thriving blues community in the 1940s and 1950s. The city continued to grow until the closing of Mohawk Rubber Company, a subsidiary of Yokohama Rubber Company, in the 1970s. Unemployment surged shortly after.
Today, Helena-West Helena is home to just over 12,000 people, the Delta Cultural Center, the Pillow-Thompson House (owned and operated by the Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas), the King Biscuit Blues Festival (renamed back in 2010 on a 25th anniversary performance by B. B. King) held each October and a Confederate Army Generals Graveyard, which holds the remains of seven Confederate Army generals. Helena is the birthplace of Arkansas' former Senior United States Senator Blanche Lambert Lincoln and Actor/Director/Filmmaker Chuck Williams.
City Contacts
Name | Position | Phone | Fax | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jay Hollowell | Mayor | Email Jay Hollowell | (870) 817-7400 | (870) 338-7250 |
Helen Halbert | Chief of Staff | Email Helen Halbert | (870) 817-7439 | (870) 338-7250 |
Sandy Ramsey | City Clerk | Email Sandy Ramsey | (870) 817-7426 | (870) 338-7250 |
Diane Tyler | Senior Deputy City Clerk | Email Diane Tyler | (870) 817-7400 | |
Sandra Cash | Payroll and Insurance Clerk | Email Sandra Cash | (870) 817-7400 | |
Dallas Smith | Receptionist/Clerk | Email Dallas Smith | (870) 817-7400 | |
Allen Martin | Director of HR | Email Allen Martin | (870) 817-7403 | |
Allen Martin | Purchasing | Email Allen Martin | (870) 817-7403 | |
Derrick Turner | City Treasurer | Email Derrick Turner | (870) 817-7400 | |
Chalk Mitchell | City Attorney | Email Chalk Mitchell | (870) 817-7409 | |
Kesha Simpson | City Attorney Secretary | Email Kesha Simpson | ||
Dionne Carter | Director District Court | Email Dionne Carter | (870) 817-7453 | |
Durwood King | District Judge | Email Durwood King | (870) 338-6070 | |
Rusty Porter | District Judge | Email Rusty Porter | (870) 572-3751 | |
Virgil Green | Police Chief | Email Virgil Green | (870) 572-3441 | |
Evelyn Pool | Police Chief Admin Assistant | Email Evelyn Pool | (870) 572-3441 | |
Reginald Wilson | Fire Chief | Email Reginald Wilson | (870) 817-7440 | |
Oscar Hoskins | Street Department Head | Email Oscar Hoskins | (870) 572-9438 | |
Earnest Womack | Street Department Supervisor | Email Earnest Womack | (870) 572-9438 | |
Bob Gaston | West Helena Regional Landfill Dir | Email Bob Gaston | (870) 572-7937 | |
Bobby Jones | Sanitation Department Head | Email Bobby Jones | (870) 572-5665 | |
Ken Fratesi | Water Department Head | Email Ken Fratesi | (870) 572-6714 | |
Kathy Zahursky | Water Department Office Manager East | Email Kathy Zahursky | (870) 817-7463 | |
Sue Gaston | Water Department Office Manager West | Email Sue Gaston | (870) 572-6714 | |
Tekelia Martin | Code Enforcement | Email Tekelia Martin | (870) 817-7437 | |
Wanda Crockett | Council - Ward 1 Position 1 | Email Wanda Crockett | (870) 338-3250 | |
Adrian Messina | Council - Ward 1 Position 2 | Email Adrian Messina | (870) 338-8782 | |
Ever Jean Ford | Council - Ward 2 Position 1 | Email Ever Jean Ford | (870) 338-3986 | |
Joe St. Columbia | Council - Ward 2 Position 2 | Email Joe St. Columbia | (870) 338-3991 | |
John Huff | Council - Ward 3 Position 1 | Email John Huff | (870) 817-7400 | |
Christopher Franklin | Council - Ward 3 Position 2 | Email Christopher Franklin | (870) 817-7400 | |
Larry Brown | Council - Ward 4 Position 1 | Email Larry Brown | (870) 338-7700 | |
Monica Davis | Council - Ward 4 Position 2 | Email Monica Davis | (870) 572-3837 | |
Don Etherly | Council - Ward 5 Position 1 | Email Don Etherly | (870) 338-6487 | |
Vivian Holder | Council - Ward 5 Position 2 | Email Vivian Holder | (870) 572-6577 |
City Demographics
Population: 12282
Square Miles: 8.90
People Per Square Mile: 902.00