Mount Helena is an suburb on the outskirts of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, 35 km from the city, in the Shire of Mundaring. Its population in 2016 was 3,185 people.

History

Mount Helena was originally known as White's Mill, a reference to Abraham White who, with Edward Vivien Harvey Keane and James Wright, in 1882 built a saw mill to supply sleepers for the construction of the Eastern Railway from Guildford to Chidlows Well. From 1898 the area was known as Lion Mill until it was renamed Mount Helena in 1924. The chief instigator in the hunt for a new name was the local Progress Association whose first choice, "Hillcrest", had been rejected by the authorities because of a duplication in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The next suggestion, "Mount Helena", was more successful, indicative of the terrain and because the suburb was situated centrally in the

Helena River The Helena River is a tributary of the Swan River in Western Australia. The river rises in country east of Mount Dale and flows north-west to Mundaring Weir, where it is dammed. It then flows west until it reaches the Darling Scarp. It passes ...

district.

Education

Mount Helena has two schools, Mount Helena Primary School and

Eastern Hills Senior High School Eastern Hills Senior High School is an Independent Public secondary school in Mount Helena, in the Perth Hills, east of Perth, Western Australia. It serves approximately 950 students from year 7 to year 12. Overview The school was opened ori ...

. They are situated next to each other on Keane Street East.

Local activities

Mount Helena has several active community and sporting groups, including the Mount Helena Voluntary Bush Fire Brigade, the Mount Helena Resident and Ratepayers Association, and a badminton club at the local Eastern Hills High School. The

Railway Reserve Heritage Trail The Railway Reserves Heritage Trail also on some maps as ''Rail Reserve Heritage Trail'' or ''Rail Reserves Historical Trail'', and frequently referred to locally as the ''Bridle Trail'' or ''Bridle Track'' is within the Shire of Mundaring in ...

passes behind the Mount Helena Tavern on its way through the suburb.

Local events

For many years the Mount Helena Whim Festival has been held in Pioneer Park annually; in 2018 the inaugural Hills Billy Cart Festival was held down Evans Street. 2019 saw the two events combine under the Mount Helena Classic.https://www.facebook.com/AWhimFestival Whim and Billy Cart Festival 2019

References

External links

Mount Helena
on

Geoscience Australia Geoscience Australia is an agency of the Australian Government. It carries out geoscientific research. The agency is the government's technical adviser on all aspects of geoscience, and custodian of the geographic and geological data and knowle ...