Helena is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in the town of

Arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

in Iowa County,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, United States. In the 19th century Helena was a village that played an important role in the manufacture and shipping of lead shot. The buildings of Helena played a key role in the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...

of 1832, despite being abandoned at the time.

History

Although always situated on the

Wisconsin River The Wisconsin River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, at approximately 430 miles (692 km) long. As a tributary of the Mississippi River, it is part of the Mississippi River System. The river's name was first recorded in 1673 b ...

, Helena has existed in three different locations. The first village of Helena was staked out by

Henry Dodge Moses Henry Dodge (October 12, 1782 – June 19, 1867) was an American politician and military officer who was Democratic member to the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, Territorial Governor of Wisconsin and a veteran of the Bla ...

as a river

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

convenient to recently discovered

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

deposits around Dodgeville, Blue Mounds, and Mineral Point.Folkedahl, Beulah.
Forgotten Villages: Helena
. ''Wisconsin Magazine of History'', vol. 42 no. 4 (Summer 1959): 288-92. In 1831 Daniel Whitney, an entrepreneur from

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

, formed a company to build a shot tower on a nearby bluff. Helena was emptied during 1832 when most of its inhabitants joined militias to fight in the Black Hawk War. Following the Battle of Wisconsin Heights, Black Hawk and his allies fled across the Wisconsin River. To follow them the U.S. army under the command of Henry Atkinson marched and arrived in Helena on July 26, 1832. They tore down many of the buildings to make rafts. Approximately 1,300 men were ferried across the Wisconsin River at Helena over the next two days. They caught up with their opponents on August 1 and conclusively ended the war with the Bad Axe Massacre. After the war Daniel Whitney and his company relocated the village of Helena a few miles to the northeast, adjacent to their Helena Shot Tower. Other settlers joined the shot tower employees and the village grew. Helena reached its peak prosperity in the mid-1850s.Stark, William F. ''Wisconsin, River of History''. 1988. However a bridge was built across the river several miles upstream, and consequently the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

was built through

Spring Green Spring Green or spring green may refer to: Colors * Spring green ** Spring bud, formerly known as spring green Plants * Spring greens, edible young leaves of certain plants * Spring greens (Brassica oleracea), vegetables Places in the United S ...

instead of Helena. The

Panic of 1857 The Panic of 1857 was a financial crisis in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission ...

further depressed Helena's economy. The town was moved again, to the northeast, to be along the rail line. However it did not flourish, and in the mid-1860s Helena had only 50 inhabitants.

Today

Remnants of Helena's second iteration are visible today in Tower Hill State Park, including a reconstruction of the shot tower. The Old Helena Cemetery is across the road.

Notable residents

Owen King was a Helena lumber dealer who served as a member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

in the 1870s, first as a Reform Party member, then as a Greenbacker.

References

External links

General Henry Atkinson and The Black Hawk War of 1832 in Helena, WisconsinHelena, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Dictionary, Wisconsin State Historical SocietyPicturesque Helena, Wisconsin State Historical Society
{{authority control Black Hawk War Unincorporated communities in Iowa County, Wisconsin Unincorporated communities in Wisconsin

History

Today

Notable residents

References

Further reading

External links